Cinderella

“Cinderella” by Ben Crocker is a panto that tells the well-known tale of the badly treated daughter of Barron Hardup and his evil wife along with her two daughters, the ‘Ugly Sisters’.  It is a simple story of good overcoming evil in the end, while along the way we have slapstick, songs, debt collectors, romance and a sinister tree in the woods!   

The sets were excellent, designed for maximum impact and in great detail: the kitchen cupboard full of vegetables and crockery, the palace staircase, the forest and so on.   Some of the props were outstanding and deserve special mention: the pumpkin shaped and coloured coach that took Cinderella to the ball was astonishing.   The spiders (ugh) that came down from the ceiling were horribly spooky.  Other props such as the giant lipstick in the Ugly Sisters’ bedroom, the Harry Styles poster and the clock that was lowered at midnight had all been prepared with attention to detail.

All the costumes were appropriate, with a lot of thought going into the use of costume and hair to emphasise the personality of each character.   Cheryl and Beryl’s school uniforms brought much laughter and their other costumes, their dressing downs and wigs and boas were colourfully co-ordinated, as were their ball gowns.  Buttons looked the part with his blue suit with massive buttons on the jacket! 

This production was funny and entertaining.  There was great variety of characters:  Devon Dumpling (the horse) was sweet and amusing, had a gorgeous coat and appealing body language.    Snitch and Snatch, the comedy duo, worked well together and it was nice to see youngsters in principal roles.  The larger than life Warwick Howe and Sam Elliot, as the Ugly Sisters, had great rapport with the audience as did David Burroughs-Parke as the lovesick but cheerful Buttons, a great asset to the group.   Some of the highlights of the evening were the local references, the slapstick routine and jokes, the dancing by mice, lizards and spiders.  The ‘If I were not upon the stage’ number was cleverly choreographed and perfectly executed.  Congratulations to all on and off stage for providing the small, but very appreciate audience, with an evening of fun and for sending us home with smiles on our faces.

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