The cast of “Willy Wonka” approached the audience several times throughout the play, creating an engaging experience for the crowd. Photo by: Emily Nguyen

A review of the newest play produced and performed by VHS’ drama department 

VHS’ drama department’s latest performance was “Willy Wonka,” a rendition of Roald Dahl’s book, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” They performed from April 25 to April 28 and from May 2 to May 5. 

The original book follows protagonist Charlie Bucket, who, although his family is extremely poor, has the opportunity to tour Willy Wonka’s famous chocolate factory along with other kids: Violet Beauregarde, Veruca Salt, Mike Teavee and Augustus Gloop. Each kid exhibits problematic greedy behaviors that eventually get them kicked out the factory, leaving Charlie as the only one left by the end of the tour. Having passed Wonka’s “test,”Charlie inherits the chocolate factory from Wonka.  The story is beloved for its Kafkaesque feel and playful storyline that manages to teach kids a lesson about greed. The VHS’ drama department was able to capture this feel extremely well and it was so fun throughout the entire performance.

 To begin, the set itself and set pieces by stagecraft were fantastically well done. Within the show, there were signs that had the names of the main kids and would light up upon introducing them and were turned off once the kid was kicked out of the factory, which were my personal favorite pieces. The backgrounds were well done with a lot of artistic skill and effort put into them as well, the highlight definitely being the inside of Wonka’s factory. 

Additionally, the cast list for the show fit the characters really well. Adam Hibberd ‘24 played Willy Wonka himself with Cadence West ‘25 as Charlie Bucket, Ada Sheeran ‘25 as Veruca Salt, Harley Nix ‘24 as Violet Beauregarde, Jagger Smith ‘26 as Mike Teavee, Eliot Story ’26 as Augustus Gloop and Oliver Henn ‘26 as Grandpa Joe, Charlie’s grandfather. 

The beginning of the show started with a magical solo performance with Hibberd singing “Pure Imagination” as Wonka. Then for the first act, the show focused on Charlie and the kids winning golden tickets to Wonka’s factory tour, each one interviewed on TV by Jonah Tillery ‘25 as the TV host. The second act consisted of the characters touring the factory and getting into trouble such as Augustus falling into the chocolate river. The parents toured with the kids as well — Levi Kalbs ‘24 as Veruca Salt’s dad,  Leah Murphy ‘25 as Augustus Gloop’s mother, Isabel Andrade ‘26 as Mike Teavee’s mom and Marissa Stadtmiller ‘25 as Violet Beauregarde’s mom.

Murphy’s performance as Gloop’s mother was extremely entertaining and her mannerisms as well as the way she talked as a German mother was a personal highlight of the show. Her singing voice came as a bit as a shock — it was much richer and deeper than I expected. Her voice was like dark chocolate put into words. Not to mention, Sheeran’s ability to capture the bratty nature of Veruca Salt and the range of her voice is definitely worth a shoutout. As someone whose favorite character is Veruca, Sheeran did so well. Going on about personal favorite acts, Hibberd also has to make an appearance. He was able to encapsulate the whimsical nature of Wonka exceptionally well and it was definitely one of the pinnacles of the show. All the actors together made a fantastic show together that was worth watching. 

In terms of scenes,the group boat ride across the chocolate river absolutely deserves a place in the spotlight. During this scene, masked ensemble cast members came down the rows of the auditorium and jump at the audience to spook them which was really fun. The blueberry scene was also particularly spectacular. In the original story, Violet Beauregarde eats gum that’s still in testing and she inflates into a big blue ball. In the play, they recreated this by putting Nix into a big blue inflatable suit and having her dance around. This was a really fun scene to watch as it was a personal favorite in the original story. 

Overall, the play was super interactive and magical for the audience. The drama department really nailed the story, all tied together with its actors, stagecraft’s attention to detail and the tech crew’s work with the lights.