Tag Archives: King’s Head Theatre

Buttons: A Cinderella Story
★★★★

King’s Head Theatre

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Buttons: A Cinderella Story

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 27th November 2018

★★★★

“a highly entertaining, titillating beast of a show”

 

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…. Especially now that Panto season has come upon us. That’s right boys and girls, the time for inneundos, “he’s behind you!”, and more glitter than you can shake a bauble at, has come around again. For the 12th year in a row, Charles Court Opera (CCO) are mixing up the Panto festivities with their imaginative retelling of a classic fairytale. Buttons: A Cinderella Story is full of the camp charm you would expect, but flogging saucier double entendres for its ‘adults only’ performances that admittedly don’t always hit the mark. Although some parts fall rather flat, this is overruled by the good … which is really very good. With inventive lyrics to songs and twists to the well-known story, CCO create a refreshing new take on the often stale Panto form.

Cinderella (Eleanor Sanderson-Nash) does not take centre stage in this telling. Gone is the glass slipper. Gone are the evil stepmother and stepsisters. Instead, we follow Buttons (Matthew Kellett), Cinderella’s teddy bear, who wishes he could be a real boy so that he could tell Cinderella how much he loves her. Poof! In a cloud of smoke Buttons’ Fairy Godfather grants him his wish. But, making Cinderella fall in love with him proves a challenging task. She has her heart set on marrying a prince. By luck the smug yet suave Prince Charming (Jennie Jacobs) has ridden into town with his manservant Dandini (Emily Cairns) but there’s an unnerving, darker side to his Royal Highness yet to be discovered. All comes to a head at the Prince’s ball, with romantic dilemmas, shenanigans galore, and a whodunnit mystery.

David Eaton does an excellent job in reworking the lyrics of existing pop songs to much comic effect. The reimagined use of Bohemian Rhapsody is inevitable with the recent release of the film with the same name. The new version of Thriller is a particular highlight, cleverly reinterpreting not just the lyrics but also the iconic dance moves to fit the storyline. Matthew Kellett as Buttons wins the prize for tugging on the audiences heart strings with his rendition of Radiohead’s Creep. Overall, the singing in the show is of an exceptional standard, with harmonies to die for.

Being an adults only performance, with no kids to do all the shouting back and participation, there was some reluctance from the audience to take part (some people almost forcibly dragged onto the stage). However, in spite of this, the audience did warm into spurting the usual comeback lines.

As much as an outrageous retelling was promised, the final product is actually rather tame. There are some surprising twists from the usual Cinderella story, however, it could have been made darker and stranger in other places. Nevertheless, this is still a highly entertaining, titillating beast of a show. It certainly beats some of the typical Panto fare that can be rather nauseating. Raucous festive fun to get you in the Christmas spirit.

 

Reviewed by  Phoebe Cole

Photography by Bill Knight

 

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Buttons: A Cinderella Story

King’s Head Theatre until 5th January

 

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:
Riot Act | ★★★★★ | July 2018
The Cluedo Club Killings | ★★★ | July 2018
And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens | ★★★★ | August 2018
Hamilton (Lewis) | ★★★ | September 2018
Canoe | ★★★½ | October 2018
La Traviata | ★★★★ | October 2018
No Leaves on my Precious Self | ★★ | October 2018
Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody | ★★★★★ | November 2018
Brexit | ★★★★★ | November 2018
Momma Golda | ★★★ | November 2018

 

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Momma Golda – 3 Stars

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Momma Golda

Momma Golda

King’s Head Theatre

Reviewed – 4th November 2018

★★★

“Thelma Ruby is a pleasure to watch, and there is scope for this to be a topical and engaging revival”

 

Golda Meir is fighting to “make a new world” in Palestine for her people, the Jewish people. This is a conflict we know well, that still rages today, so this is certainly a topical play that has a clear place in our modern-day political conversation. Adapted from William Gibson’s play ‘Golda’, ‘Momma Golda’ tells the story of Golda Meir, Israel’s first and only female Prime Minister, popularly referred to by many as “the grandmother of the Jewish people”.We follow her as she must make the decisions that begin and shape a new nation.

It is a slow start, a blow by blow exposition of the political climate documented through phone calls and monologue. However as the human element of the story is found, the show warms towards something that is both humorous and moving. Playing Golda Meir, is the remarkable 93 year old Thelma Ruby, who co-wrote the show with her late husband Peter Frye, and toured it internationally with him between the years 1980 and 1988. She is a power house onstage, warm and witty, playful and poignant in her portrayal.

Sean Baker plays opposite her, morphing between the different people in her life, her husband, generals, politicians and so on. It is certainly a challenge to take on and he struggles in the role. He doesn’t seem to be comfortable enough with the text to lend much naturalness or flow to his lines. However hopefully this is something he will settle into as the run progresses because the moments that are convincing work really well, and he lends a lovely vocal tone to his speeches.

The set is simple, a desk, a table, each illuminated in turn (Clancy Flynn), as we move between spaces and years. This is a weak production in many ways, but Thelma Ruby is a pleasure to watch, and there is scope for this to be a topical and engaging revival.

 

Reviewed by Amelia Brown

 

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Momma Golda

King’s Head Theatre until 12th November

 

 

 

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