WONKA'S GOLDEN TICKET

WONKA'S GOLDEN TICKET

DPHS to be congratulated for a quality show. (Review by Maurice Kort)

Durban Preparatory High School (DPHS) and their drama teacher, Gillian Brunings, have mounted an ambitious musical Wonka's Golden Ticket written by Gillian Brunings and based on the original screen play Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) written by Roald Dahl. Condensing the wide screen extravaganza to the confines of a school hall is no mean task and this has been achieved remarkably well with the musical sticking very closely to the original tale with good use of many areas of the school hall, especially the proscenium, which also allows several delightful set changes behind the closed curtains.

In this way, many delightful surprises are revealed and great sets, starting with the impoverished home of Charlie. Here his two sets of grandparents Grandmas Georgina and Josephine (Aston Lawson and Troy Steyn) and Grandpas George and Joe (Brody Holins and Matthew Everitt) are squashed together in a hardly large-enough bed. Matthew Everitt gives a stand-out performance when he eventually ventures from the bed.

The audience is suitably introduced to the show with the Candy Fans buying Wonka's delicious chocolates and singing the opening number The Candy Man under the capable accompaniment of a piano and Musical Director, Sally Perks. The score was composed by Danny Elfman and Lesley Briscue. Each of the five lucky golden tickets to visit Wonka's Chocolate Factory is progressively found by the lucky recipients. There is the very spoilt Veruca Salt (Conna van der Vyver) who wants everything she sees and completely dominates her diminutive father, Mr Salt (Sandiso Dhlomo), another delightful performance.

Further ticket winners are Augustus Gloop (Tristan Ross), who is constantly eating - witness his size, accompanied by his mother (Adam Holdcroft), Violet Beuregard (Michael Scott), who is after the gum chewing record, chaperoned by her father, Alistair Calder, and Mike Teevee (Calvin Gersbach), with his mother, Gareth Simpson, who cannot take his eyes off his cellphone game. When almost all hope is lost, Charlie finds the last golden ticket.

These characters are all superbly cast and make the most of their roles. Although it is a boys’ school, the acting, costumes and especially the wigs are so well-conceived that one truly imagines the show to have a mixed cast. Another inspired bit of casting was Storm Sukkowplang in the cameo role of the Paraguay Reporter. Chris Turner made an imposing Wonka, as did Tristan Muller as Bill who acts as the story teller and sells the boxes of chocolates. Michael Brakspear was a suitably inept science teacher, with some very funny lines. Mr Slugworth (Liam Whitfield) was most sly and villainous. Completing the Bucket family were Charlie's mother and father, Christian Bamber and James Redman. An aspect that struck me was that Charlie's grandparents could have had more make-up to make them appear much older. To their credit, some of them certainly moved more slowly and aged in their curtain calls.

After the interval comes the exciting part of the show, as declared by Bill - the tour of the factory by Wonka and once again there is a great set and, of course, the large number of factory workers, the Oompa Loompas. Their singing and dancing, not to mention individual rap dancing and acrobatics, contribute considerably to the show's delight, as do their costumes.

Gillian Brunings is to be congratulated on her show as indeed are all the others involved. Greg Mckay on lighting had a great deal of work to do and a great touch is having the Backstage Crew (Joshua Morse, Kyle Cowan, Luke McCarthy and Samual Swanepoel) being included in the curtain call. What a joy it is to have a school and its Principal having the foresight to include drama and music in its school activities, and what a wonderful way to celebrate the DPHS centenary year. These contribute so many social skills and preparation for life and of course an appreciation of the arts. Hopefully this will help keep theatre alive and well for the future, to quote an old line "get them when they're young".

Further delights of the show were the presence of a programme, with delightful informative chocolate facts, and open cinema-style seating, instead of the ubiquitous supper theatre. One cannot beat the atmosphere that a proper theatre offers. Well done, DPHS. There is only a very short run, 15 to 17 September at 18h30, doors opening at 17h30, at the Durban Preparatory High School, 99 Gordon Road, Morningside. Tickets R30 - contact brunings@dphs.co.za or 083 326 3257 to reserve seats. You will be impressively entertained. – Maurice Kort