The Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience comedy show comes to London

The disastrous Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience made headlines in February - but for those who missed out on the warehouse chaos, Awkwardprods is bringing the Chocolate Factory to London tonight!

It's not one to miss as the actual actors from the Glasgow experience Felicia and Jack (aka The Unknown and The Wonka) will be there in person as part of the event.

The Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience Quiz and Game Experience is set to take place at The Clapham Grand which promises "an evening of sweet dreams/nightmares in our Chocolate** Factory."

Attendees can expect an entertaining line up which includes: Linus Karp (Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story), Joseph Martin (Gwyneth Goes Skiing), Rob Madge (My Son's A Queer), Kate Butch (RuPaul's Drag Race UK), Yshee Black (Drag Icon) and Deborah Frances-White (The Guilty Feminist)

"Prepare yourself for comedy so rich, it'll make a triple chocolate cake look like a diet food and silliness so silly, you'll forget how to even. Quiz and game yourself through the night - as special guests will pop up like daisies in this garden of chaos," the event information reads.

"Join the Oompa Loompas in their sweet, sweet meth lab, have your photos taken at our wonktastic photo ops with no expenses spared** and fight the evil UNKNOWN!"

Linus Karp who runs the theatre company, Awkwardprods, behind the event with partner Joseph Martin revealed to indy100 how it all came together.

"We're obsessed with pop culture, as many queers are, and we've done shows previously about Princess Diana and Gwyneth Goes Skiing about the infamous ski trial court case, so when the Wonka event in Glasgow was sort of blowing up on socials, we were just like the rest of the world really, just really enjoying it and finding it utterly hysterical. I remember looking at these memes and reading about it and honestly, we were laughing on the floor," he said.

That's when the couple turned to each other and said "wouldn't it be fun to put on an event around this as a bit of a joke," and decided to book performances for a "small event."

Their event soon gained the attention of Kate Butch from the current season of Drag Race UK and theatre royalty Rob Madge who Karp and Martin reached out to see if they would be interested in doing a small evening show together.

"But as soon as we announced it, it totally blew up and we sold out our originally-planned venue in a day!" Larp recalled.

The Clapham Grand then got in touch to ask if they wanted to upgrade the show so more people could be welcomed in "who also wanted to buy into this crazy thing."

Drag performer Yshee Black and Deborah Francis from The Guilty Feminist who were "equally as obsessed with all things Glasgow Wonka Experience" then joined the line-up.

Larp described the evening as a "celebration for the Glasgow event" and reflected on the impact the story had both in the news and online at the time.

"Obviously yes, some children were upset about the actual event at the time, but now people can look back and laugh at it and enjoy the hilarity of the situation.

"That's what has built the traction so much faster I think, once the news picked it up and the internet found it, it's just blown up! I'd also like to think of it as a chance to celebrate it, live, with a real audience of fans who actually want to see the content. They deserve it!

"These actors were just doing their job at the end of the day, and who could have expected what happened to them all... Felicia who played there [as the Unknown] is only 16 and it was her first acting job, and when you look at these clips, she's really giving it her all behind that mirror!

The theatre maker concluded: "So, let's celebrate them and their efforts over one evening of something so ridiculous and silly, and equally joyous and entertaining on stage at The Clapham Grand."

Final tickets for The Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience live at The Clapham Grand are available for tonight, here: https://link.dice.fm/A6682fd98fcb

Find Awkward Productions on social media at @awkwardprods and The Clapham Grand at @theclaphamgrand

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