Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Created by Norwegian-British author Roald Dahl, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is often considered one of the most beloved children's stories of the 20th century. The story of the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric candy maker Willy Wonka was adapted onto the big screen in 2005. So it was no surprise that this year's production by year 6 was ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.

The school's theatre was transformed into a mesmerising chocolate factory decorated from floor to ceiling with a variety of mouth watering sweets. As the scenes progressed each set design was as impressive as the next. Adding to the array of colour were of course the Oompa-Loompas who were hugely entertaining and an integral part to Charlie's story.

Each of the 50 members of the cast gave outstanding performances. The factory hands added an extra dimension to the performance and the narrators kept the story flowing beautifully. Charlie's parents and granparents were brilliantly played by Jake Friedman-Kenshole, Jemima Hopper, Fred Dimbely, Katya Rogers, Nicholas Beck and Holly Goble.

As for the four golden ticket winners and their parents, fantastic and extremely comical performances were given by George Pantry, Hannah Roberts, Annabel Rudden, Brooke Mason, Anna Eriksson, Sam Hannah, Megan Bradley, Joseph, Robson, Kayden Hesketh and Lauren Anderson.

Lastly and by no means least, there can of course be no ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' without a Charlie and a Willy Wonka. Exceptional performances were given by Harvey Cole as Willy Wonka and Jarod Hardcastle as Charlie. Special congratulations should go to Harvey Cole who recently performed in ‘On the Rim of the World' with the Glyndbourne youth opera, and to Jarod Hardcastle who recently performed for 6 months as Friedrich in ‘The Sound of Music' at the London Paladium.

As always the music, lighting, sound, set, costumes and make-up were fantastic!