Cinderella

From the opening scene with its cleaver ‘Cinderella gauze‘, the audience was presented with a great evening’s entertainment, which grew as the evening gathered pace. Directed by Andy Brown it included all the important elements of an enjoyable panto with a few nice twists along the way.

Megan Harrington’s ‘Cinders’ had good stage presence and a strong voice, particularly in her end of Act 1 number “One moment in time”. Freddie Locket as ‘Buttons’, in his first leading role, captured the audience’s attention instantly and perfectly throughout, with a sensitive and endearing performance.

Ugly sisters ‘Grizelda’ (Paul Wood) and ‘Gertrude’ (Tony Boardman) played it for all it was worth, although I think they could have been even more mean to Cinders! Their fun and exchanges with the audience were contagious. Paul gave us a master-class in consistent projection, even with the benefit of this intimate lovely theatre.

Great support from the ‘Baroness’ (Melanie Brown) and ‘Baron Hardup’ (James Cowlishaw) kept the plot moving well and fine performances too from the ‘Prince’ (Oli Cowlishaw) and ‘Dandini’ (Jack Gandy). Although a traditionalist, when it comes to panto gender swopping, Oli’s portrayal as a male Prince was confident and convincing, so I may be converted! The ‘Fairy’ (Hetty Bentley) also did well with some nice comedy touches and ‘Bodget and Leggett’ (John Birchley / Mandy Hawkes) together with ‘Chambers’ (Matthew Jeffrey) gave good support to the overall performance. The “If I was not in pantomime…” number was very funny.

The chorus and young dancers added depth to the production and the musical accompaniment led by Ben Thompson never overpowered the players. Kirsty Purvis’ choreography of the final ‘pre finale’ number by the dancers was impressive and well danced. We were one audience that will be back for an encore. Thank you for the invitation.

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