PANTO REVIEW: Cinderella
- Posted on December 5, 2007 11:22 AM
- 0 comments
Cinderella
The Old Vic
Preview - Dec 4th
Review By Zarina Raja
It’s that time of year again when you find yourself screaming; ‘BEHIND YOU. BEHIND YOU. BEHIND YOU.’ Why? Who knows? Apparently it’s tradition. Another one from last night’s Cinderella was: ‘Every time I say cake, you have to shout cake back.’ CAKE shouted the enthusiastic audience, not missing a beat.
If you are going to go and see a panto this year, then it has got to be Cinderella. It holds all that you would want for a light-hearted, Christmas night out. The ugly sisters of course, provide the majority of entertainment. The Old Vic’s ugly sisters were called Dolce and Gabana, amusing us with its blatant irony. Dolce and Gabana – obviously played by men - delivered their performances through likeable smut, sarcasm and an enjoyable dose of nastiness. As the two characters that everyone loves to hate, people hissed and booed at them with delight. You then have the adorable character of Buttons – who was fighting with his desire to be with a man – who helps poor old Cinder’s out. Cinderella, the door-mat, step-daughter turned beautiful Princess, adds that touch of emotion and sentiment to the play.
Stephen Fry’s Cinderella is a good laugh as long as you are willing to throw yourself into a little ‘BEHIND’ you action. Oddly enough, last nights performance was mostly adults or teenagers, having a few drinks and giggling all the way through. The humour was the most cheeky that I have seen in pantoland with lots of blatant references to sex. I was almost shocked as Cinderella lolled about in her dream muttering something rude. But anyway, it managed to suck a loud gasp of laughter from the surprised audience, leaving them chuckling into the next joke.
Cinderella is silly, funny and highly interactive. It seemed kind of low budget for a London panto but I think that is the point! This is cheap British humour at its best. Oh, no it isn't. Oh, yes it is.
For Cinderella and other theatre tickets, take a look at Seawave's theatre listings.
Post a comment
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.seatwaveblogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2452
