★★★★

“Sumptuous, hilarious, sparkling and completely over the top”

The most magical thing about watching Cinderella is that you know the story, the characters and the outcome. It is a universal story of adversity and justice, and the transformative powers of love and kindness. It has been performed, in various adaptations, possibly millions of times around the world. In Britain alone, it is one of the most frequently mounted pantomimes.

Yet, in the hands of a masterly production, you can still be enthralled. In fact, much of the enchantment comes from the fact you DO know what’s going on. So, in the audience, you become collaborator and co-creator, and in some weird way, know that the success of the evening is greatly down to you.

That’s enough theorising – Hackney Empire’s seasonal Cinderella, in the hands of writer Will Brenton and director Clive Rowe, delivers that masterly production. Sumptuous, hilarious, sparkling and completely over the top. Brenton and Rowe are masters. The credits in the programme are too long to even begin a selection, but think productions of The Addams Family and Chicago – Rowe has been involved in these and many more. With such credentials, the evening guaranteed brilliance.

For a start there was a proper band. Led by Wendy Gadian as musical director and arranger, the four musicians managed to sound like a complete orchestra. The music – a mix of classic Christmas and contemporary pop with original material and songs by Steven Edis – yielded sophisticated dance numbers, rousing choruses, some poignant solos and great audience involvement. At one point, a few songsters joined in from the stalls even before the invitation.

Then there was the villain – the wicked stepmother. Gloriously attired in costumes by designer Cleo Pettitt, and prowling about the stage to audience boos, Alexandra Waite-Roberts was, for me, the outstanding act. She is a musical performer of the highest calibre with huge on-stage charisma. Her song number ‘I am going to live till I die’ and a short Bob Fosse-style dance sequence (choreography by Michael Ward) were two of the show’s delights.

But then picking out any performer seems churlish. Kat B and George Heyworth as Flatula and Nausea (the Ugly Sisters) held the show together. Jade Johnson as the Fairy Godmother and Siobhan James as Cinderella were the charmers, while Nicholas McLean, as a cheeky Buttons hopelessly in love with Cinders, gave us a light touch of pathos – as well as being a belting singer.

It was a big ensemble, appropriate for the gorgeous Hackney Empire. Supporting the main cast and ensemble were 25 students from the Vestry School of Dance and Performing Arts. Every one was excellently integrated and a credit to the show.

The final must-mention was the on-stage spectacle delivered by a hugely talented creative, production and technical team with lighting by Tim Mitchell and sound by Richard Bell. The backdrops were all spun with glitter – we got a frost festival, a woodland glade, a castle on a mountain and Hardup Hall, home to Cinderella and her stepsisters. As the first act closes and the fairy godmother sends Cinders to the ball, the technics were all pulled out and a piece of completely awesome stage magic was performed to gasps by the audience. It would be quite wrong to spoil the moment. Go and see for yourself.

Do you need reminding of the story? Cinderella is a classic folk tale (French) of a virtuous working girl extremely down on her luck and being bullied. But her beauty and goodness have been noticed and there is a handsome prince loose in the district – Hackney in the Holly in this case – who is looking for a wife (and to be recognised for himself). So, Hey Presto! Magic brings the two together and all wrongs are righted. In the meantime we have all enjoyed nearly three hours of laughter, sung along to some great music, been awestruck, thrilled and thoroughly satisfied. What better way to open the Christmas season?

THE LIAR, THE BITCH AND THE WARDROBE

Union Theatre

★★★

“the overall effect is chaotic in a largely positive way”

There are few tasks in theatre more thankless than performing panto to a press-night crowd: a regiment of grey-faced curmudgeons who ration their laughs like wartime sugar and offer all the bounce-back of a soggy mince pie.

Even so, the rambunctious cast of The Liar, The Bitch & The Wardrobe, the adult seasonal panto at the Union Theatre, generate enough camp voltage to send C.S. Lewis spinning like a gigawatt turbine.

And spin he would. Devout Lewis would likely gasp at what writer Joshua Coley has done to his beloved tale, steeped as it is in Christian mythology. Here, heroes Peter (James Georgiou) and Edward (Joe Pieri) are aged up appropriately and reimagined not as brothers but as lovers, recast as the romantic leads of this messy but sweet adventure.

Familiar staples get similarly anarchic makeovers: Mr Tumnus becomes Mr Topless, while Aslan transforms into Arselan, a mythical lion sporting a BBL and the attitude to match. The cast lean into the absurdity with relish — Katie Ball’s multi-rolling is a particular delight, full of sharp physicality and crisp character work — but it’s Tom Duern who consistently walks away with scenes in his back pocket. As resident dame The Tight Bitch, he gurns, pouts, spars with the audience and belts his numbers with aplomb. It’s a performance that knows exactly what show it’s in and how far to push it, even when the crowd doesn’t always return the energy.

As a panto, it arrives armed with all the expected trimmings. There’s pop culture references, (some niche enough that only the terminally online would fully get) audience participation (this writer was hauled onstage for an excruciating dance — which I promise isn’t influencing the score…), and musical numbers that come thick and fast: Beyoncé riffs, Matilda nods, a splash of Defying Gravity, plus rewritten hits from Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and more. All four performers are capable singers, though the sound mix occasionally betrays them, with vocals swallowed by overly dominant backing tracks.

The material feels at its strongest when it toys with panto convention and then gleefully subverts it. Though a recurring issue is the script’s reluctance to trust its audience: some jokes are glib references rushed through rather than actual punchlines, while others are hammered a beat too long, over-explaining what would have landed better if left to breathe.

Supported by sharp sound design from Josh Mroczynski — whose recurring audio gags escalate beautifully — the cast make the most of what their creative team provides. Sasha Regan’s direction and choreography give the set pieces real lift, while Janet Huckle’s costumes chart the show’s camp excesses with wit and flair. Reuben Speed’s set offers a pleasingly ramshackle playground; at times the panto looks like a hodgepodge hastily stuck together, and the ladder used in one musical number seems borrowed from a decorator’s van, but that scrappiness quickly becomes part of its charm.

There are momentum stumbles, and moments where the script can’t quite keep up with the cast’s gusto, but the overall effect is chaotic in a largely positive way. And for all its rough-and-ready edges, it’s worth remembering that panto is a far slicker business than it pretends to be. Even at their most ramshackle, productions like this rely on tight cues, rapid character swaps and physical comedy that only works with real discipline. The Liar, The Bitch & The Wardrobe is a testament to that craft — both in its brightest moments and in the occasional weak spots that remind you how demanding the form truly is.

Even the dourest critic was laughing and cheering by the finale, which ends in a triumphant burst of queer joy — fitting for a panto that doesn’t so much open the closet door as kick it clean off its hinges.

Tag Archives: X25

CINDERELLA

★★★★

Hackney Empire

CINDERELLA

Hackney Empire

★★★★

“Sumptuous, hilarious, sparkling and completely over the top”

CINDERELLA

Hackney Empire

Reviewed on 4th December 2025

by Louise Sibley

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

ROMEO AND JULIET | ★★★★★ | April 2025

DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT | ★★★★ | December 2024

ALADDIN | ★★★★ | November 2023

Cinderella

Cinderella

Cinderella

THE LIAR, THE BITCH AND THE WARDROBE

★★★

Union Theatre

THE LIAR, THE BITCH AND THE WARDROBE

Union Theatre

★★★

“the overall effect is chaotic in a largely positive way”