The scene is a marketplace – youngsters are milling around, chattering and laughing. Suddenly, the Candyman appears and there is much jubilation because he is handing out sweets. But, stop! These are no ordinary sweets but “lekkers” that contain a wallop – in fact, a drug that the Candyman (played with maturity by Tamara Ross) has invented and is in the process of perfecting to his needs and those of his sinister superiors, the evil henchmen of drug dealer Mr Reeves.

One young girl develops a craving and begs her brother for more money so that she can indulge her need for these “delicious sweets”. He is understandably reluctant as they don’t have much money, having just run away from home and an abusive father.

In an scenario reminiscent of Lionel Bart’s Oliver, they end up in a shelter (ironically called The Palace) and there meet up with the delightfully forgetful Prof, a strong performance from Dawn Gaillard (who is also the director) and her three partners. As Rotti, Hamish Kyd extracts much humour from the part and informs the pair of the shelter’s offbeat rules: “Only steal from the rich, like that Robin Hood fella and don’t steal things that have a sentimental value.” Would that that message could reach the criminal element in South Africa! Another rule is to “Take care of the elderly and do your homework!”

As the formidable Maria, Simangele Vethe adds the dire warning that should they misbehave they will be put on toilet cleaning duty. Titus Kunene lends his considerably physique to the part of Benny. The Prof explains to the bewildered siblings that, while the other children are obviously from well-to-do homes, they are also in need of shelter. The Candyman puts across a strong message that while society may look after the down-and-outs and the poor, there is not much being done for youngsters from affluent homes who have to suffer parental physical or mental abuse.

After their successful The MJ Experience earlier this year, Bojangles Entertainers are to be congratulated for producing two full-on musicals in under 12 months. Training must be good at this school for musical theatre because the cast of highly talented youngsters bop their way with confidence and control through a string of original songs composed by Hamish Kyd (lyrics) and Chris Ruiters (music). While Janine van Wyk’s choreography is disciplined, it’s often a little repetitive and the vocal arrangements are in the sure and experienced hands of singer Bronwyn Forbay.

Talent must run in the Kyd family because one of the best dancers in the troupe is one of the henchmen played by Tommy Kyd. Another notable performance comes from the exotic La-toya Short whose number Shimmer and Shake brought the house down!

While the BAT Hall is all right as a venue for music or dance, it is not drama-friendly and acoustics there are none, not to mention competition from passing trains or bands playing in the BAT Café So shows requiring focus on speech or lyrics need careful amplification. On opening night, the sound was dreadful during the first half and it was impossible to hear the any of the words sung over too-loud backing tracks. This was a pity because The Candyman’s lyrics have a welcoming freshness and originality. However, things seemed to improve after interval and hopefully by now the technical problems have been sorted out.

The Candyman runs at the BAT Centre’s BAT Hall until December 23 with a possible extension from January 2 to16). Book through Ticketweb, the BAT Centre on (031) 332-0451 or Bojangles on (031) 468-8609 and (031) 208-0610.