Sam Mendes's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the perils of adaptation
The latest Roald Dahl musical to hit the West End proves that putting children's books on stage requires theatre-makers to think beyond what's on the pageThe Sam Mendes-directed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, marks the arrival of the second Roald Dahl musical in the West End. Sadly, Charlie " which is lacking in narrative tension and so dull and tooth-achingly sweet that by the int…