Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Riverhead Theatre, Louth. 11 May 2025.

It is that time of year again when the Louth Riverhead Theatre presents its annual musical production. Renowned for producing bright, colourful and entertaining family fayre, this production of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is no exception. It is everything you hope it would be. Once again director Jamie Harris and assistant director Gary Starkie bring us a brand-new but well-known production. Musical Direction is provided by the always excellent Simon Percy and choreography is by Studio 2000s Nicky Wright.

I was invited to a dress rehearsal to see the show as it develops. Of the two young casts, I watched Team Charlie perform as Team Wonka won't be rehearsing until this evening. However, I have no doubt that the cast will be equally excellent. It is always unfortunate when I can only review one of the two casts as I feel that all the young performers deserve a review of their hard work but unfortunately, it s just not possible to see Team Wonka in action, so I shall wish them all the best for their performances.

The show opens with a rousing performance of The Candy Man which truly sets the scene as the large ensemble gather on stage to get a glimpse of the latest confectionary on show from the mysterious Willy Wonka. A crowd has gathered around the gates of Wonka's factory and we are drawn into a world where anything is possible if you use your imagination. The charismatic candy man is played with warmth and charm by Louth favourite Ben Gilbert, whose rich vocals wash over you like Wonka's rivers of chocolate. He is by turns quirky and enigmatic in his actions and expertly leads the company on the journey through the show.

The show's titular character of Charlie Bucket is played with wide-eyed innocence and optimism by Harry Lord who has a really strong singing voice for his age. Last seen as Oliver at the Riverhead Theatre, Lord is a student at Blaze Youth Theatre in Grimsby, and it shows in a consummate performance for one so young. His drive and enthusiasm for musical theatre will take him a long way in future.

Charlie is the poorest child in town caring for his bed bound grandparents as his single mum, lovingly played by Vanessa Allison, struggles to make ends meet and is afraid of losing her job if she were to accompany Charlie on his tour of Wonka's factory. Instead, that honour goes to Charlie Grandpa Joe, in an excellent performance from Linden Heaton. He pours every ounce into his portrayal of the dedicated, loving grandfather for whom Charlie is his world. It would be very tempting to overplay the role but Heaton does a terrific job in keeping the performance credible, when called upon to sing and dance as an ageing formerly bed-ridden pensioner.

Charlie's other grandparents are Vikki Wright as Grandma Josephine, Abbie Dixon as Grandma Georgina and Mark Thompson as Grandpa George who all manage to work their cameo roles effectively, and pop up in other roles throughout the show too.

Then we come to the children and their parents, the visitors from hell to the Wonka Factory. We have the ever-hungry Augustus Gloop played by Lleyton Clarke with an unfeasibly large amount of padding to take on the role of the glutinous Gloop and his overly-indulging mother played by the evergreen Jeannine Ridha. The pair give a memorable performance of More of Him to Love. The ghastly Veruca Salt is played with absolute relish by Robin Allen, stomping, shouting and yet by contrast demonstrating very controlled and graceful ballet moves, her father played by Kevin Campbell delivers Mr Salt's solo. When Veruca Says, brilliantly.

The brattish influencer and Queen of Pop, Violet Beauregarde and her mother played by Nicola Law give gum-chomping a bad name and the level of helicopter parenting is scary for this duo. Echo Allen sang and moved very well and gave a delightful, charismatic performance. It is following the departure of Violet's character in the second act that Mrs Beauregarde's wonderfully comic characterisation comes to the fore but I won't spoil it.

And finally, we have Mike Teevee confidently played by Maisie Evison in this reimagined take on the young American who is obsessed with video games and gore, loving the gruesome fates awaiting each lost child. Cheryl Lamming and Maisie Evison's performance of That Little Man of Mine is wonderfully comic and sung so well.

Other notable cameos come from the television hosts Jerry and Cherry played with superb over eagerness by Ben Allen and Poppy Webb-Jones. The level of cheesiness on display is perfect. And finally Ayla Adams as the wandering saleswoman Mrs Green always keen to help Charlie and his family out by providing ageing and slightly mouldy cut-price food as required. The chorus consists of Jessica Atkinson, Frances Brindle, Phoebe Booth, Amelia Browne, Michelle Browne, Lucy Bryson, Ian Cahill, Miley Carberry, Heather Grant, Ruby Hall, Dave Howden, Alice Jarron, Olivia Kerley, James Laverack and Jorgie Walmsley.

All your favourite songs are here for you to enjoy as Charlie Bucket declares I've Got a Golden Ticket and Willy Wonka leads us into a world of Pure Imagination. through to the industrious efforts of the Oompa Loompas. I hope that the show will achieve the audiences it richly deserves after so much care and preparation has gone into bringing it to life on stage. Tickets are still available from the theatre's box office or online. The show runs from Wednesday 14 to Sunday 24 May 2025. If you want to see it, don't delay as some performances have very limited ticket availability at the time of writing!

Andy Evans 12 May 2025.