‘Willy Wonka’ is deliciously dark at center

8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. 3 p.m. Sundays. Also, 2 p.m. May 3. Through May 11. $15-$30. Fabrefaction Theatre Conservatory, 999 Brady Ave., Atlanta. 404-876-9468, fabrefaction.org.

Bottom line: Delicious good fun.

On its surface, Fabrefaction Theatre Conservatory’s production of “Willy Wonka: The Musical” is a candy-coated confection featuring a couple dozen Atlanta kids.

But under the bright, giddy veneer of Roald Dahl’s classic “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” which spawned film treatments starring Gene Wilder (1971) and Johnny Depp (2005), lies a primal tale of greed, gluttony, arrogance, pride, lust and survival. For all its marshmallow pillows and luminous lollies, “Willy Wonka” is as darkly hypnotic as “The Hunger Games” — and as addictive as so much of today’s reality TV, which traffics in our instinct of schadenfreude, or finding joy in the defeat of others.

So while poor Charlie Bucket makes an archetypal journey from sardine-can misery to whipped-cream magic, you can be sure that director Christina Hoff doesn’t gloss over the ominous shadows of the twisted tale. Hers is a telling for children to gobble and adults to savor.

Timothy Allen McDonald and Leslie Bricusse’s stage adaptation follows young Charlie (played by the adorable, pint-size Mabel Tyler on the day I saw the show) as he tries to find one of five chocolate-factory tickets that Wonka (Craig Waldrip) has craftily concealed in candy bars worldwide. A ghoulish caricature of a news reporter named Phineous Trout (Chase Stephen Anderson) narrates the action, which transpires in and around set designer Lucas Godfrey’s increasingly fantastical designs. (The intricately detailed, steam-punk costumes are by Deyah Brenner, lighting by D. Connor McVey.)

Charlie’s quest is not unlike Dorothy’s in “The Wizard of Oz” or Little Sally’s in “Urinetown.” As Waldrip’s Wonka manipulates the game with the demonic gleam of a comic-book villain, Charlie competes with greedy Veruca Salt (Katherine Atkinson), gluttonous Augustus Gloop (Nathan Petit), gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde (Madison McBride) and snarky, TV-obsessed Mike Teavee (Jeb Carter). (The rotating cast also includes Christian Conte as Charlie, Katie Hollenshead as Veruca, Brittany Crisp as Augustus, Amelia Kushner as Violet and Mitch Gerding as Mike.)

Who will be the heir of Willy Wonka’s candy empire?

While most of us know the answer, it’s fun to witness Augustus’ romp in the chocolate river, Veruca’s clash with the squirrels, Violet’s transformation into a juicy blueberry, and so on. Though the company’s singing skills are wildly uneven, Tyler makes for a wonderfully pipsqueak-y Charlie, and Carter is perfectly abominable as the tantrum-throwing Mike.

Waldrip is quite good at portraying the duality of Wonka, who operates from a place of “Pure Imagination” (as he swoons in the song) and vexation. Willy does not suffer fools, even the very little ones, gladly.

Of the four grandparents, Holly Stevenson is hilarious as the crotchety Grandma Georgina, always correcting the deaf Grandpa George (Michael Shikany). Jim France’s Grandpa Joe is first-rate; with his gnarly countenance, pork-chop sidebars and knickers, he looks like he stepped out of a Dickens novel.

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was Dahl’s attempt to reconcile the richness and purity of the imagination with the empty calories and excess of technology. Though Wonka is a figure of towering eccentricity, possessed of a sternly moralistic world view, he has a squishy center and a heart of gold. As seductive as it is silly, “Willy Wonka” packs a message that is both filling and delicious. Ultimately, Fabrefaction’s treatment goes down like a perfect candy bar.