Funday Times

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
By Natasha Fernandopulle
An adaptation of Roald Dahl's famous 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ will be presented by the Royal College Drama Society, with the assistance of the Old Royalists Association of Dramatists, next week-end.

For those of you who may not be too familiar with the story it is about a very poor boy, by the name of Charlie Bucket, who is so poor that he is close to starvation. One day however, he gets lucky when he wins a supply of candy, for a lifetime, along with the chance of visiting Willy Wonka's chocolate factory!

Five lucky people find a Golden Ticket wrapped in one of Willy Wonka's candy bars and they win a visit to Mr. Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.

Charlie being poor, he cannot afford to even buy more than one bar of candy a year... So when he wins this ticket, his whole family is overjoyed!
Charlie is a nice, well behaved, boy. But the others are badly behaved and are punished for their behaviour… The other characters are Augustus Gloop - a greedy boy, a chewing-gum addict Violet Beauregarde, Veruca Salt - a spoilt child and Mike Teavee who is a TV addict.

Pasan Ranaweera (14), plays Charlie. As mentioned earlier he is a nice boy who is poor. "He loves chocolates but especially Willy Wonka's chocolates," he said. "He loves his grandparents and if someone hurts him, he walks away," said Pasan. "Willy Wonka is his idol," he went on to say.

Pasan likes playing the role because he is a nice boy, "it is hard to be nice but it is cool", he said. About acting, his thoughts were, "it's cool to finally take up someone elses life and show it to other people."

Pasan feels the message from this is, "to be like Charlie Bucket because he is a role model to kids." This well behaved boy has a pleasant surprise waiting for him at the end of the tour.

When asked about the play on a whole, he said that "it is very magical, with sparks, chocolate waterfalls and gums that have a whole meal in it… it is mainly imagination, but we have to live it!"

Kids, insist that your parents take you to watch 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', on April 7, 8 and 9, 2006, at the Lionel Wendt. Ticket will be available at the Wendt and will be priced at Rs. 500, 350, 250 and 150.

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