KET, glorious ket – you can’t watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Sunderland Empire without a reference to this most wonderful of Mackem words.

It means sweets for the uninitiated.

And now comes a confession. This was my first Charlie experience – never read the novel or watched any of the films. But I’m delighted my first taste was in musical form.

Of course, I’ve seen trailers and know the general gist of the storyline. I know Johnny Depp played Charlie in a film and someone once called me Veruca Salt – RUDE!

But I’m more than happy with my first full-on appreciation of the greatness of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Everyone knows this is a tantalising tale of a ‘golden ticket’ winner Charlie Bucket and the confectionary kid Willy Wonka.

The performance I saw featured Jessie-Lou Harvie as Charlie who was an amazing show-stopper.

The Oompa Loompas were crowd-pleasers and I’ve still got “doompadee doo” ringing in my ears.

And I must admit popping my hands to my ears on occasion as big belt-out numbers could be a little loud – as I heard a couple of others in the audience mention.

The character of Willy Wonka is a joy and Gareth Snook played it beautifully. I was totally gripped by his every appearance.

Billboard straplines say in large letters JOYOUS  - not mure much more needs to be said. The audience very much showed their appreciation of a great production. Make sure you snap up a (golden) ticket.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical is gracing the Sunderland Empire’s stage until Sunday, August 13.

Tickets and booking details are available online at www.ATGtickets.com/sunderland.