Wholly heart-warming, uproariously funny and truly . . . scrumptious
From the 28th of May to the 1st of June, the ATG Edinburgh Playhouse plays host to the magic of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The family favourite returns with some excellent casting in the form of local legend Elaine C Smith and Adam Garcia as the Child Catcher and Caractacus Potts.
Since the film was released in 1968 and later adapted for the stage, Chitty has had its fair share of runs across the country, drawing crowds of theatre lovers from all walks of life and stood the tests of time in ways many other shows have failed.
Set in the early 1900’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang tells the beloved tale of the Potts family – Caractacus and his two children Jeremy and Jemima plus Grandpa Potts. After the passing of his wife, Caractacus struggles to make ends meet and give his children everything they wish for as an inventor of . Jeremy and Jemima (played exceptionally by Louis Wilkins and Isabella Manning) live a wonderful life filled with love and imagination, and become attached to an old car they find in a scrap yard. To make the money needed to buy the car for his beloved children, Caractacus launches a series of hairbrained money making schemes using his various malfunctioning inventions, and manages to restore the car to its former glory with the help of the delightful local confectionary heiress Truly Scrumptious. What follows is a magical ride to foreign lands where a pair of deranged monarchs try to steal Chitty and tear apart the Potts family.
There really is something for everyone in this production. From jaw dropping special effects and dazzling costumes to the hilarious caricature characters from Vulgaria and their clowning and innuendos. From the first lift of the car, the audience was spellbound. Some serious theatre wizardry has gone into the flight of the car across the stage, and when paired with small puppetry elements and miniature models to represent some of the other set pieces, this show is a feast for the eyes and ears.
Much of the soundtrack is well known to audiences but there are some added extras in the stage show that do not disappoint. Special mention must go to the Baron (Adrian Delacy) and Baroness (Bibi Jay) of Vulgaria for their incredible depiction of the child-hating yet petulantly child-like rulers. This pair steal the show in all of their scenes, with hilarious flirtation and tantrum-filled drama at every turn. Amping up the comedy and bringing an element of the pantomime to the stage are the duo of Boris (Adam Stafford) and Goran (Michael Joseph) who hatch the plan to steal Chitty to keep their mercurial Baron happy. This pair showed incredible chemistry on stage as the bumbling advisors and were the source of many a chuckle through the auditorium.
Elaine C Smith appears as the reviled Child Catcher, the famous childhood villain that many adults today still remember with fear. Smith is set to appear in all the Scottish tour dates, as a local celebrity for the billing. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately if you still shudder at the thought of the long-nosed kidnapper) Smith does not quite strike the same nerve, and though she looks fabulous, is less than fearsome, and the element of danger usually felt at this point in the show falls rather flat.
All in all, this is a fabulous show for the whole family and arguably much better than the movie! What could be cheesy or twee has been reworked by an incredibly talented creative team and cast into something wholly heart-warming, uproariously funny and truly… scrumptious.