The Ash Girl

Written by American born Timberlake Wertenbaker, probably most famous for her play ‘Our Country’s Good’, now resides in the UK and is a frequent writer for the RSC and the Royal Court. This production is her shadier retelling of ‘Cinderella’ of which it’s far from shy about admitting.

It enjoys morbid turns, philosophical digressions and an elaborate, often verse-like composition at the root of its charm. A terrific piece for adults to appreciate while offering an educational component on literature for younger adults and children.

In the title role, Lizzie Elwell is appropriately drawn and delicate, emotionally abused and gaslighted by her spiteful stepsisters and stepmother.

Director, Kalini Kent, excelled with this project. She’s evidently explored the text to great length with her cast with many words and phrases aptly accompanied by agile physicality, playful tones and characterful resonances, particularly with the forest creatures who display a menagerie embodying most of the deadly sins who gather on and take hold of perishable souls.

The design of the production displayed a solid monochrome colour palette which heightened the darker and eerie currents to this story whilst offering a liveried appearance.

I appreciated the intimacy of the presentation too, flipping the layout of the auditorium to make us closer to the action worked wonderfully for this piece.

Something I find that’s frequently overlooked and taken for granted in so many productions I visit is the clarity of speech from the players. Here, the articulation from this cast of youngsters was faultless, I didn’t miss a single word from this clear and eloquent cast who were exceptionally fluent with their script. The only aspect that hindered in parts was the interference from the microphones which was a repeated problem throughout the performance - a shame to say the least, as the purpose of these is to enhance the quality of what we hear, not hinder it. But, making up for this glitch in spades is how our eyes and ears are constantly engaged and frequently delighted by the imagination of the approach. Accompanying the presentation was Danny Elfman’s ‘Edward Scissorhands’ soundtrack, a flaw to this choice was how it’s immensely iconic and recognisable to its film (or the British Gas advert) but it can’t be denied that it absolutely created the idyllic ambiance to this presentation, injecting it with a Tim Burton-esque feel which was entirely suited.

Rosie Bristow is comical as the lazy and lethargic Slothworm who has many of the best lines in the show, her comic timing, slow speech, and sluggish body movements which always appeared to be done in protest offered the perfect characterisation.

But Ash Girl does have friends who can help her if she lets them. Most of whom are the comforting animals of the forest but none more so than the Fairy in the mirror played by Sophie Foulkes who brings a playful energy to let you know she’s not a traditional fairy.

Ed Massey is touchingly honest as Prince Amir, the object of affection to our Ash Girl with his astute presence but it’s Joe Lomas as Paul who steals his limelight as his aide-de-camp. The Prince receives pressure from the pragmatic but caring Princess Zehra, played by Julia Whitworth, who came into her own when she joined Ash Girl for an anxious and awkward exchange. Julia would benefit to attend to her posture a little when performing and ignite her act with more alert facial expressions, however, saying that, I’d much rather an underplayed portrayal than an excessively stagey one.

The composure of this entire ensemble was confident and assured yet the curtain call was unjustifiably apologetic. These youngsters performed so royally for two and half hours then followed their act with a shy and unassuming “please don’t applaud us” expression when they took their bows, we wanted to give the commendation that was so deserved though many held back as the rapture appeared to terrify this youth cast.   

Cygnets have presented a production which brings a classic, often fluffed up story back to its initial roots as intended by its original story-tellers, the Brothers Grimm, and made even uglier hitting us head on with relatable issues for many in today’s society, primarily focusing on self-doubt whilst touching on other deeper and more taboo troubles which are regularly faced today.  It’s a dark, mystical and most memorable performance from Cygnets. Ample congratulations.

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