Cinderella

Thank you for your kind invitation to report on your recent 50th anniversary your production of "Cinderella". The staging for this production was highly inventive and very effective.  The opening village market scene with the young Cinderella was very engaging, the home scene was split into half house and half outdoors while the palace in Act 2 included pillars, steps and a throne.   The change of scene back to the house was slow but the audience were entertained by the live music during this time.   The carriage for Cinderella was beautifully created, running around the hall with flashing lights and creaking wheels while the shoe-trying scene was very nicely played with the various slipper triers acting so differently and made very good use of the split stage. 

The script was very good, and suited this company very well.  There were nice touches of reality within the fairy tale, such as starting with a young Cinderella in her home village during a narration by the Fairy godmother - a very colourful scene with excellent freezes. There were some very good characters drawn within the show: Cinderella with attitude, the servant, the prince, the King and Queen, stepmother and two wonderful ugly sisters!  Cinderella and the fairy godmother had some lovely lines and songs that were well delivered and clear, while the transformation scene worked very well indeed.

The music was live, and this gave a great deal of energy to the show as well as creating good continuity. The sound and lighting worked well, with some lovely lighting effects. The costumes were fantastic: the ugly sisters in rose pink and purple dresses, the transformation dress for Cinderella, the king and queen in their finery - and sock suspenders! - and the Prince and his servant in their doublet and hose all looked wonderful. 

This production I felt benefited from very good continuity planning, some exceptional acting and singing, and a wonderful sense of fun.  All the characters were believable - even the prince when he was bored of meeting prospective brides

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