Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Very flexible staging encouraged my design students to be creative.

Rod Hearn, Damonte Ranch High School, Reno, Nev.

Figure out your set earlyÑit's a huge set show. I wish I'd have rented the backdrops.

Molly Grasso, Papillion-LaVista High School, Papillion, Neb.

Special effects need time. We asked students from middle-school math and science to come up with them. They had fun and we had fun with some of their ideas.

Terri Gillis, Frank Phillips YMCA, Columbus, Miss.

We had a very simple set but used lots of sound effects to create the atmosphere of the factory, the squirrels, the river, and the movement of the elevator.

Drama Director, Lincoln Public School Brooks Office, Lincoln, Mass.

We created a shadow theatre upstage, framed by a factory window, and displayed the consequences of the children's tragic flaws in over-exagerrated shadow! It was hilarious watching Violet grow in blue shadow! And the squirrels as shadow puppets toss nuts onto a dodging Veruca. Augustus swam upriver with his mom in pursuit, and Mike Teavee was delightfully and simply shrunk!

Terry Overfelt, Rock Bridge High School, Columbia, Mo.

A skateboard with bungee cords up the center aisle was a perfect way for Augustus to go up the pipe. We used chocolate-looking fabric for the river and the Oompas waved it.

Julie Estrada, Windsor High School, Windsor, Colo.

When using kids, make the set very simpleÑkeep the focus on the kids. We used a children's slide for the nut chute; it works beautifully!

Frann Sidlow, Fierke Education Center, Oak Forest, Ill.

We had over 30 Oompas. I separated them into three groups. One group was featured on stage for each poem while the other two were in the aisles. All three recited the last poem onstage. We also had a group of squirrels for the Nut Room scene. Costumes were made using sweats for squirrels and shorts/t-shirts with suspenders for Oompas.

Drama Director, Miscoe Hill School, Mendon, Mass.

We had 24 Oompa-Loompas and there were six in each verse segment. They were the stage crew moving all set pieces. We had a set building session and the actors created the inventions out of boxes, tubes, long silky brown cloth for riverÑcan be waved, etc. We used a child's inflatable swim ring and inflated it with plastic tubing and an air compressor. We used a child's plastic slide for our rubbish chute and built a cardboard top for it.

Linda Hasbrouck, Gibraltar Area Schools, Fish Creek, Wis.

My son's Pipeworks set and Saran wrap made a most interesting clear, glass elevator.

Ruth Jeremiason, Little Falls High School, Little Falls, Minn.

I used the ensemble to "create" the machines from found objectsÑvery fun!

Gretta Berghammer, Sturgis Youth Theatre, Cedar Falls, Iowa

For Violet, we used an inflatable blue suit and put a pair of large pants and a poncho on her. As soon as she started chewing the gum, she started inflating the suit. It was hysterical!

Angel Palmer, Home Grown Players, Zanesville, Ohio

We used an inflatable Halloween costume for Violet. We filmed Mike Teavee and projected him on a real television screen. We used just a spot and fog machine during the boat scene. Three of the grandparents and Mrs. Bucket doubled as Oompa Loompas.

Mary Leone, South Carroll Covenant Keepers, Eldersburg, Md.

Allow for a simple, modular set that moves easily as you progress from scene to scene. Long set changes disrupt the flow of the piece.

Joanne Fayan, All Children's Theatre Ensemble, East Providence, R.I.

The more outrageous and gawdy the costumesÑthe better.

Gail Allen, Chouteau County Home School, Fort Benton, Mont.

We had the narrator act like a news reporter.

Valerie Horton, Gidney Avenue School, Newburgh, N.Y.

The script suggests cardboard oompa-loompas. We did ours live with puppets the size of kindergartners.

Christy Conant, Holy Rosary BASE, Seattle, Wash.

Having real candy to taste during scenes and loud, bright sets helps children to visualize the factory. Chocolate River: we used brown cloth on stilts and it looked great.

Gi Pruden, Katy Visual and Performing Arts Center, Katy, Texas

Don't be afraid to create a colorful, fanciful set and costumes to underplay the darker side of the story.

Paddy Lynn, Kirk Players, Mundelein, Ill.

We used airduct work for the Augustus Gloop scene donated from a local companyÑworked beautifully. Ken doll for Mike Teavee and we managed to blow up Violet on stage with air machine and innertube around her.

Nan Howard, Trinity School, Ellicott City, Md.

The playbook has great suggestions. Keep the set simple and rely on acting and movement. For our blueberry we made a circle of one yard fabric. Put a casing for string at the top and a casing for a cut hulahoop in the center. It was cute.

Sally Hoffsommer, Baldwin City Community Theatre, Baldwin City, Kan.