Brighton Theatre Royal Review: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Rating: ★★★★
Running Dates: Wednesday 12th August-Sunday 16th August
Where to see it: Brighton Theatre Royal
Duration: 2 hours 35 minutes incl. interval
Review
The truly nostalgic rendition of James Bond author Ian Fleming’s only children's book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, was a night to remember, with camp references, ‘Vulgar’ humour, and plenty of fiery moments.
Close to home came the Brighton Theatre Group’s ‘fantasmorgorical’ musical with relatable references to being surrounded by seagulls, seeing the i360, and longing for the heatwave to end as we all sweltered between the 219-year old theatre’s walls.
With a long musical introduction and colourful moving front stage lights came the long awaited opening scene that set the tone for the car’s Grand Prix winning history. The array of beautiful, dated dresses of the spectators took us back to a distant period of history.
The fantastical floating, flying car is actually based on the real life ‘Chitty Bang Bang’, a motor built in 1921 by Count Louis Zborowski, an amateur racing driver. Following Chitty 1, came 2, and 3, all the way to director Michael Burnie’s musical and the 11th generation Chitty. The car was able to pivot, ‘float’ on a buoyancy aid, and finally fly as a mechanical contraption lifted it from the stage and surfed through the waves of air.
My favourite musical number was by far the fairground scene with slow, smooth dancing to a distorted low melody with dimmed lights and an eerie feel. The fun didn’t stop here as real dogs blessed the stage time and time again, earning a loud reaction from the audience, as well as a life-sized music box and jack-in-the-box in action.
While the inventor Caractacus Potts (Carl Lovejoy) and his two young children Jeremy (Aaryan Willmot) and Jemima (Georgia Burns) led the performance with the impressive roles for such young actors, it was Truly Scrumptious (Kiarnie Camp) that took the spotlight with her angelic voice, stage presence, and sweet demeanour that matched both her name and title as the sweets maker’s daughter.
The Baron and Baroness surprisingly posed as even more quirky characters with their flamboyant outfits and wigs, camp nature, with jokes of the Baron kissing men, and the Baroness hating and banishing kids despite being with a man who acts just like one (don’t we know the feeling).
Whilst the show had some expected teething problems with balloon popping and dog’s not listening, the only thing that slightly tainted the performance was the muffled mics at the beginning of the show. Whilst it was resolved quickly, it was hard to decipher dialogue against the thick Vulgarian accents.
This musical is full of comedic timing, puns, terrible spies, and amazing dancers with a range of abilities (and flexabilities!) but ultimately hosted a real mix of characters both in the performance and in the audience. It was great to see everyone coming together to enjoy themselves and have some fun.
With cannon explosions, streamers, and cast weaving through the audience, but the assurance that “this is not a panto”, you must buckle up for a wild ride. The eccentric night ended with a final recital of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with all the cast members on stage and an explosion of red streamers. It is a night not to miss!
Written by Isabel Meszaros
We were kindly gifted these tickets in exchange for a review