Cinderella

Once again, David and I were delighted to be invited to view ACTion Community Theatre's latest production, the traditional tale of Cinderella, which has been given a fresh, modern twist by writer and director Grace Freeman in this delightful re-telling of a well-loved classic.  

Our story opens with a decidedly modern fairy godmother, dressed in gold sequin suit and matching shoes, as she waved her wand delivering a bright and a witty start to the panto and introducing a host of villagers dancing to ‘Wake Up Boo.’  

We first meet our down-trodden heroine Cinderella and her steadfast friend Buttons. I liked the scene where Cinderella and Buttons were heckled by the sound tech using snippets of songs to punctuate their conversation.  We also met the ugly sisters outrageously flirting and fighting over an audience member and their mother the heartless Baroness Hardup who taunts Cinderella calling her ‘Scruba-rella.’

Next, we meet The Prince and his manservant Dandini who is handing out invitations for the ball.  The Prince is determined to find a partner who will love him for himself and not his wealth and title, so he swaps clothes with Dandini.  Obviously, this results in The Prince and Cinderella accidentally meeting in the forest but in true panto style he omits to find out her name but gives her an individual invitation to the ball. 

In the ugly sisters’ boudoir, we were treated to a fun duet from Fannie and Annie Hardup dancing to ‘Made You Look’ as they got ready for the ball. Unfortunately, the baroness who thrives on cruelty rips up Cinderella’s personal invite.  Enter the fairy godmother with her hoodie wearing ‘Glam Squad’ team who turn Cinderella into a princess ready for the ball.  The transformation however comes with a warning as the fairy godmother warns her spell is ‘shorter than a tik tok trend.’   Fairy Godmother (Abbey Walters) played her role beautifully singing and dancing to ‘That’s My Girl’ working her magic as the stage filled with smoke and colourful lighting effects.

At the ball, The Prince and Cinderella finally meet and sing a beautiful duet to ‘A Million Dreams’ before the clock strikes and she flees leaving behind her shoe and starting a quest to find its mysterious owner who has stolen the prince’s heart. 

Some good performances particularly from Abbey Walters as the twerking Fairy Godmother and Casey Stephens as Cinderella she had lovely vocals and brought a sweetness to her character particularly in her relationship with Buttons and the Prince. Ben Cowan provided the love interest as the lovelorn Prince and I was very impressed with his acapella rendition of the cult-classic ‘Golden.’   

Niámh Carroll played Buttons well encouraging the audience to join in with the traditional panto banter and leading the slapstick humour especially in the ghost scene.  Saskia Dooley was perfect as the frenetic ‘drama queen’ Dandini who again provided much of the humour and physical comedy.  Saskia had very strong vocals leading the ensemble in ‘Dance with me Tonight’ skipping into the audience and showing some impressive dance moves. 

Matthew Bain and Robeol Michael were great fun as the bickering squabbling ugly sisters as they minced around the stage in their vertiginous high-heeled patent boots.  It was good to see them both in comedy roles, firmly out of their comfort zones, providing the humour wearing a range of brightly coloured outfits and wigs.  

Sam Kendall was fantastic as the cruel, heartless baroness Hardup oozing pure evilness and malice as she tormented poor Cinderella and even bantered back at the audience when she was heckled.  Sam stayed in character throughout acting with her whole body right down to her fingernails, purring her way through her scenes with a flick of her scarlet red hair.  

Additional support was from the ensemble and a strong role from Grace Freeman as Heraldina as she led the party guests in a lively choreographed routine to ‘Dance the Night Away.’

Back-drops were projected featuring a village scene and various rooms in Hardup Hall, including the kitchen where poor Cinders spends much of her time.  Lighting and sound effects were used well adding ambience to the scenes. 

I liked the modern references and up-to-date musical numbers giving the production a contemporary feel which resonated with a younger audience but still stayed true to its panto roots.  Costume choices were bright and colourful with some traditional outfits for the Prince and Cinderella and more modern choices for the Baroness, dressed head to toe in slinky leopard skin, party guests and the fairy godmother and some wacky innovative designs for the ugly sisters. 

A special shout out to the chaperones who are an integral part of the behind scenes team allowing younger members to take part. 

It was lovely to meet writer/director Grace and the cast after the show and to congratulate them for bringing pre-Christmas cheer to the Terry O’Toole Theatre.   

 

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