Cinderella

A big thankyou to Chaos Mad for their invitation to see their latest production, “Cinderella” an original script from Natasha Kus, based on the well-known fairy tale, and the much-loved pantomime characters; but with a twist. The Drill Hall Chepstow was buzzing with expectation and some very excited children, as always with local Pantomime Productions.

Cinderella played by Hazell Guppy gave a mature performance showing her acting ability and excellent delivery of this much-loved story and well supported by her friends the mice played by Mia Dexter and Poppy Scanlon.

Lou Reynolds as the Stepmother gave a very glamorous but still very wicked characterisation that received some rather enthusiastic boos and jeers from a very verbal audience but took it all in her stride and maintained her character. Well done.

The not so loveable stepsisters played with gusto by Marianne Bowen and Natalie Bowen gave an enthusiastic performance with good comic timing and great facial expressions. The casting was just right, and they worked very well together. Did the surnames have something to do with this ? Well done.

Izzy Brown as Prince Charming gave us the traditional character with excellent posture and thigh slapping movement. She played the part very well and her line delivery and vocals were strong. Izzy shows excellent stage presence and was well supported by her side kick Dandini played with good characterisation by Tayla Robinson.

A popular character Buttons was played by Oscar Robson, who had some great lines and a very cheeky delivery. It was a shame that some of the very good comedy moments were lost on the audience once passed the first few rows, as the delivery was on times very quiet. Oscar obviously had a sharp wit and could ad lib, which is a talent to have in any panto but needs to be heard in the back row. Well done.

Every Panto needs its Fairy and, in this production, we had three. Our fairy Godmother played by Philippa Hickey our narrator of the tale and her Faries in training Kerie Hallam and Eva Daniels. I guess Faries must learn their trade too, but I did miss the pumpkin coach, so maybe next time. Well done to all.

Once again congratulations to you all in maintaining the wonderful panto tradition and bringing this entertainment to the local community.

 

The views in this report are solely of the author.

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