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Show: Cinderella – A Fairy Tale
Society: Greenwich Theatre (professional)
Venue: Greenwich Theatre. Crooms Hill, London SE10 8ES
Credits: By Sally Cookson & Adam Peck. Presented by Greenwich Theatre
Type: Sardines
Author: Caroline Jenner
Performance Date: 17/08/2023
Cinderella – A Fairy Tale
Caroline Jenner | 23 Aug 2023 09:53am
Photo: Lidia Crisafulli
Cinderella at Greenwich Theatre is part of an initiative run by James Haddrell, the theatre director, to try to encourage families to attend events at times other than Christmas. This is the fifth show that has been staged since 2019 with the intention of drawing family audiences in during the summer, an extraordinarily worthwhile and brave enterprise, particularly in the current economic climate.
Having borrowed my neighbour’s eleven year old son, Hugo, in a vague attempt to justify going to review a family show I set off on a slightly overcast morning to Greenwich to see this in house production. Let’s make one thing clear right from the beginning this is no Disney/panto Cinderella. Yes, we have wicked stepmothers, mean siblings, missing shoes and plenty of audience participation but no fairy godmother appears to help our Cinders, there are few set pieces and not one ‘behind you’. Instead magical birds repair socks, mend plates and dress Cinderella in a fairylight filled dress and sparkling silver Doc Martens, whilst multi coloured light bulbs outline doors, windows, trees and fireplaces.
This piece devised by Sally Cookson and Adam Peck is snappy and lively, keeping children of all ages engaged and focused for the 90 minutes of the show. Three flats filled with light bulbs provide us with the changing locations in a magically creative way, keeping up the pace of the piece by avoiding laborious scene changes. The night sky with moon and stars is particularly effective.
There is little in the way of props: a washing line, a large box, a book – but mainly this show captivates through costume and music. The actors all appear to be reasonably proficient in at least one instrument with most of the cast multi roling as birds with flapping cloaks and feathery boas. However, the wonderful songs composed by Musical Director David Haller, who played keyboards and ensemble, allow for some extremely entertaining dance routines with tweeting birds, billing and cooing and a wonderful take on the traditional mop routine with Cinders and her step siblings scrubbing the floors.
Addy Caulder-James as Cinders is endearing, we sympathise with her tomboyishness and abrasive distrust of the bird watching prince. Rishi Manuel as the prince charms the audience by sprinkling feathers on audience members as he enters through the auditorium, asking married members of the audience for advice on relationships and trying the large silver doc marten shoe on the feet of small children in the front row in his search for the elusive love of his life. Lara Lewis and Harry Edwin both turn in energetic performances, with just a touch of melodrama that children love. Special mention, however, must go to Pete Ashmore, who morphs from Father to Stepmother through a simple on stage costume change – a wonderful way to help younger audience members understand multi roling and something my young friend was very impressed with. A great switch from kindness to meanness left us in no doubt that this was a completely different parent both through voice and movement.
I wonder however if some of these actors were auditioned on the strength of their ability to play an instrument as for the most part their singing voices were poor. This is disappointing as some of the words, particularly when songs are solo performances, are almost inaudible and the lyrics definitely worth hearing. An investment in some radio mics might have helped. This aside when I asked Hugo for his favourite part he cheerily replied ‘All of it,’ so with that strong recommendation I would suggest you take your family along to Greenwich Theatre before September 3rd and support this great company.