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

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★★★★

“Jennifer Selway’s exceedingly clever writing is maximised by a cast able to expertly tease out every laugh possible”

Flat Out is a good, old-fashioned farce. It details an afternoon in the lives of a small group of people in a prestigious but mice-infested South Kensington flat (hence the pun of the title) during the Brexit-centric month of March 2019.

The plot is too much of a tangled shaggy-dog story to summarise sensibly, but it begins with an illicit tryst between dental hygienist Angela (Jennifer Matter) and lawyer Giles (Richard Earl). It certainly grabbed everyone’s attention when, in the opening seconds, Angela removed her coat and dress to reveal a skimpy Ann Summers outfit. But the couple’s anticipated pleasure is endlessly delayed by a chain of unexpected visitors.

In keeping with the style of a typical farce, bad luck, coincidence, misunderstandings and mistaken identity drive a sequence of increasingly absurd and improbable events. The comedy comes from the thickening web of inexplicable statements and actions that only the audience can understand. Jennifer Selway’s exceedingly clever writing is maximised by a cast able to expertly tease out every laugh possible from each other’s escalating misfortunes.

It’s very much a London show, with an obvious fondness for the city demonstrated by references to its locations, landmarks and public transport. There’s a fair amount of satire, too, with nods to gender politics, greedy estate agents, social media and what it means to be rich or poor in a bitterly divided Britain. While the Brexit theme is a subtle one, it’s nevertheless an important thread running through the narrative.

Timing all those entrances and exits so perfectly can’t have been easy, but the coordination of this complicated, often highly physical comedy is superbly managed by director John Plews and the entire Ovation company. And the ingenious, economical set design by Emily Bestow made it possible for the various comings and goings within the flat to interact seamlessly as doors opened and closed and windows were hastily clambered in and out of.

The way the various loose ends are resolved at the end makes for a hugely satisfying conclusion to a play that balances hilarity with a sophisticated look at the way we live.

Reviewed by Stephen Fall

Photography by Darren Bell

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

Upstairs at the Gatehouse

Reviewed – 5th June 2019

★★★★

“Jennifer Selway’s exceedingly clever writing is maximised by a cast able to expertly tease out every laugh possible”

Flat Out is a good, old-fashioned farce. It details an afternoon in the lives of a small group of people in a prestigious but mice-infested South Kensington flat (hence the pun of the title) during the Brexit-centric month of March 2019.

The way the various loose ends are resolved at the end makes for a hugely satisfying conclusion to a play that balances hilarity with a sophisticated look at the way we live.

Reviewed by Stephen Fall

Photography by Darren Bell

Flat Out

Upstairs at the Gatehouse until 30th June

Previously reviewed at this venue: