Tim Burton had loved Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory since childhood. One of the things he loved about it was that it, “respected the fact that children can be adults.” It is very fitting then that Faith Builders is staging a live all-kid adaptation of the classic children’s book later-on this month. The group's Willy Wonka is billed as "a brand new show," which means a fresh, new adaptation with little actors squarely in the center of everything.
The one-night-only production is being staged by a church that’s right across the street from the airport on Howell. It seems to be a relatively progressive group looking to reach out to the community in ways that may be perhaps a little bit less-than-traditional.
Roald Dahl’s work is, at first glance, kind of a strange choice for a Christian group to adapt. The author is characterized as having been “touchy about religion,” once questioning the very existence of god based on a former Archbishop of Canterbury's assertion that his childhood dog had not gotten into heaven. Examination of themes in Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory allows a Christian connection to make a bit of sense, though: it’s the story of a group of children entering the earthly temptations of a candy factory. Those of questionable moral character (possibly even representing a couple of human ‘sins’) are cast-off on-by-one until finally, righteous, little Charlie is given the key to the factory. Up he goes to heaven in a glass elevator. He is a humble child as we must all be children in the eyes of the divine...etc. Not actually that far of a stretch when you think about it.
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There isn’t a whole lot of information about Faith Builders online...even on its own website. There’s some very basic information about the church available there. I think it’s cute that they believe that myself, my wife and our two adorable, little daughters are going to Hell. According to their “What We Believe
