CINDERELLA

Cambridge Arts Theatre

★★★★★

“side-splittingly funny, intelligent and the song and dance numbers are a delight”

Pantomime season is amongst us again and this year in Cambridge it is the turn of Cinderella written by Al Lockhart-Morley and directed by Michael Gattrell. Painted backdrops (Ian Westbrook, set designer) featuring famous Cambridge landmarks leave us in no doubt as to where we are situated. There are a copious number of Cambridge jokes scripted in which get the loudest laughs from the audience. Prince Charming is visiting Trinity College and Cinderella is an environmental studies student in the process of applying for a place at Harvard. In many ways this is not your average pantomime. But as we are often reminded this is Cambridge, after all.

Fairy Goodheart (Julia J Nagle) sets the scene and keep us up with the plot, as well as providing the magic, of course. Nagle is delightful throughout with twinkly eyes and a reassuring smile and we know we are in good hands. A great voice too when it comes to her solo numbers.

Pantomime legend Matt Crosby holds the whole production together. Despite this year discarding his Dame’s skirts for a Buttons’ tunic, his onstage warmth and amiability puts everyone at their ease. He’s funny, possesses great comic timing and, now that we can see his feet, can dance a bit too.

Cinderella (Chloe Gentles) is as delightful as she must be. She is probably also the smartest dressed and most properly spoken Cinderella on stage this year. She did once pick up a broom but the most arduous thing she was otherwise seen to do was to take a group of children to the woods for an eco-friendly ramble. Which gives her the chance to meet the royal prince and his servant, elegantly dressed in purple suits. Jack Wilcox – great voice, great feet – plays Prince Charming much as you might see Hugh Grant take on the role. Alex Bloomer, smiling throughout, plays Dandini as the Prince’s devoted spaniel.

A high standard of clever punning falls into the script for Baron Hardup (Stuart Simons) who commands the stage and pairs well with Buttons. The Wicked Stepsisters (Harry Howle and Steven Roberts) dressed in an array of outstanding and outlandish costumes (Sue Simmerling, costume designer) share sparkling repartee but haven’t yet found their comedy timing or fully exploited the rapport between them.

The production gives us a generous number of excellent song and dance routines (Kevan Allen, choreographer and Dean McDermott, Musical Director), though the song choices are a bit obscure. The ensemble of six dancers are excellent; stunning on the eye, dressed in beautiful costumes and with great moves their scenes are arguably the best of the show. Supported well too in some scenes by a children’s ensemble who are disciplined, smile throughout and give an added something to the larger scenes on the full stage. The act one curtain closer as Cinderella finds her carriage to take her to the ball is a real showstopper of a scene involving twinkling lights (Mike Robertson, lighting designer), and an ingenious stage effect.

Story telling must make way in the second half for birthday shout outs, children up on stage, and audience participatory singing. This year it’s How Much is that Doggie in the Window due to an extraneous bit of subplot shoehorned in to facilitate the now traditional soapy slapstick scene. The slick timing is not quite there yet but the generous audience is in stiches anyway.

Cambridge has pulled out all the stops to provide a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining evening. There’s all the pantomime elements and audience participation we expect without any shady politics or extreme innuendo. It looks good, sounds good, at times is side-splittingly funny, intelligent and the song and dance numbers are a delight. Go see!

CINDERELLA at Cambridge Arts Theatre

Reviewed on 3rd December 2024

by Phillip Money

Photography by Richard Hubert Smith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

1984 | ★★★★ | October 2024

THE HISTORY BOYS | ★★★★ | October 2024

REBUS: A GAME CALLED MALICE | ★★★ | September 2024

CLUEDO 2: THE NEXT CHAPTER | ★★ | March 2024

MOTHER GOOSE | ★★★★ | December 2023

FAITH HEALER | ★★★ | October 2023

A VOYAGE AROUND MY FATHER | ★★★ | October 2023

FRANKENSTEIN | ★★★★ | October 2023

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION | ★★★ | March 2023

THE HOMECOMING | ★★★★★ | April 2022

Cinderella

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

★★★★★

“Storytelling at its very, very finest. And that is a rarity that ought to be treasured”

To preface: if you can go see this, you must; you absolutely must.

The Happiest Man on Earth is earth-shatteringly moving. It is Aristotelian in the very best sense, despite not having any of the structures outlined in the Poetics. This is storytelling which cannot but leave you changed.

Directed by Ron Lagomarsino, The Happiest Man on Earth is the adaptation of Eddie Jaku’s best-selling memoir, of the same name, which was published when Jaku was 100 years old. Originally produced in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, this is the story of a German-born Jewish man who, against an unending avalanche of impossibility, survived the Holocaust. Yet, it is selfless; it is a tale of indefatigable kindness, compassion, and friendship. It is history, axiology, deontology, and all the other philosophical ‘ologies’ in one. But it is also storytelling at its very, very finest. And that is a rarity that ought to be treasured.

To conceptualise this story as a piece of theatre is perhaps to devalue it: not because theatre is not important enough, but because The Happiest Man on Earth transcends theatrical definition.

Kenneth Tigar carries this 90-minute story single-handedly, and never, not for one second, does he lose anyone’s attention. It is rare to see an actor in his more mature years – I will not say eld*rly – on stage, not to mention in a one-man performance. More remarkably, Tigar plays Eddie Jaku from 1933 (when Jaku was 13 years old) up until his old age, and at every point he has you locked in. Before the story-proper begins, Tigar greets the audience and explains the reason for telling his story: he has agreed to tell it at his grandsons’ synagogue and is scared; he doesn’t yet know if it is a story one ought to share.

Lagomarsino’s direction is also brilliant, complimenting Tigar consistently. Stage design (James Noone) and sound design (Brendan Aanes) were simple and sparse, but expertly curated, seamlessly adding to the fabric of the piece.

I am loathe to say more, or to detail any of the story itself. We are always at risk of forgetting, and worse, of neglecting history, especially its atrocities. If we are going to learn, this is the way to do it. The history of the Holocaust, in all its evil – and indeed the Banality of that Evil (thanks, Hannah Arendt) – belongs to our collective memory. We do not live in a historical vacuum. Our relationship to existence and to each other should be informed by the past and our relationship to it.

To postface: The woman next to me watched this with the repeated refrain of ‘oy vey’ as she silently distributed tissues to all those in her immediate vicinity. She may not be there again, so do stock up on said tissues in advance.

CINDERELLA

Cambridge Arts Theatre

★★★★★

“side-splittingly funny, intelligent and the song and dance numbers are a delight”

CINDERELLA at Cambridge Arts Theatre

Reviewed on 3rd December 2024

by Phillip Money

Photography by Richard Hubert Smith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Cinderella

Cinderella

THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH at Southwark Playhouse Borough

★★★★★

“Storytelling at its very, very finest. And that is a rarity that ought to be treasured”

THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH at Southwark Playhouse Borough

Reviewed on 25th November 2024

by Violet Howson

Photography by Daniel Rader

Previously reviewed at this venue:

THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH

THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH