'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' review: A joyous, nostalgic spectacle

**** (four stars out five)

Ian Fleming’s name is, of course, synonymous with the fictitious spy, 007. But what might surprise some is that he was also the author of the children’s musical, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, starring Dick van Dyke, filmed in 1968 and produced by the late Albert Broccoli - the owner of the James Bond franchise.

Like the film, the current production - directed by Thom Southerland at the Birmingham Hippodrome - is a similar, splendid, joyous experience.

It stars Ore Oduba as Caractacus Potts, with a strong performance from Ellie Nunn as Truly Scrumptious. The latter provides a particularly powerful voice that will ring in my ears for quite some time. The dancers are incredible; the Potts children are a delight to watch, and Grandpa Potts (Liam Potts) was just eccentric, colonial and comical in equal measures.

The production is a dazzling, bombastic affair filled with the all-too familiar music and songs, accompanied by some excellent choreography, thanks to Karen Bruce.

The dances are lively and energetic as one would expect from Oduba (he was previously in Strictly), but Southerland also adds some timely touches that gives it a veneer of contemporaneity – even if the actual story is set around 1906-1909.

All in all, it is a delightful experience, inducing – for people of a certain age at least – a combination of wistfulness, sentimentality and nostalgia.

It transports audiences almost effortlessly to their childhood. Who wasn’t scared out of their pants by the nimble, creepy performance of Robert Helpmann as The Child Catcher? If that’s not enough, there’s also a lot of exciting – very dramatic and unexpected – noise of cannons.

My only reservation with this production is the use of Charlie Brooks (of Eastenders fame), who gave a lacklustre performance as The Child Catcher. Surly she could have done a better job than just walking on stage dressed like a cross between a New Romantic/Goth?

That said, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang might be a children’s classic fantasy, but does it offer anything to adults in the first quarter of the 21st century? Does it speak to us and our concerns?

In many ways it does.

I would concede that the piece might not be an entirely accurate representation of the post-war period. But it does sort of act as social documentation of the late 1960s. It reflects the psychological state of Britain as it embarks on the road to student sit-ins, flower power generation, and the looming entry into the European Economic Community.

And it still resonates with us and our world today. Like the original, this adaptation is littered with tacit references to national and cultural identity, foreigners, liberty, dictatorship, and internment. It echoes a certain form of European fascism with which Britain was familiar and from which she was recovering.

It depicts our country’s concern with European politics that segregated undesirable people – in this case, children. But, like all good theatre, it also holds a mirror to entertainment – and in a good humoured way, pokes fun at our own cultural traits and stereotypes.

It concludes with the politically fashionable mantra that teamwork makes a dream work.

Essentially, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Birmingham Hippodrome is a very satisfying and a jolly entertaining production that’s well worth seeing.