In these doom-laden days, there’s a lot to be said for taking some time out to do something utterly detached from reality and away from phones, like taking in a show at the theatre. But that message hadn’t got through to the middle-aged man sitting next to me at Derngate’s annual festive offering, who spent the entire first half on his mobile with a face like a slapped backside.
The previous night I’d been at a gig at the very excellent Black Prince to see Space, a 90s band still on the road with a superb young support act, Headfeeder, and it was brilliant to see the combination of teen band starting out with the experienced Britpop stars – or it would have been if a load more middle-aged blokes in front of us hadn’t been recording the whole thing with their mobiles, blocking everyone’s view.
Teenagers get a load of grief for phone use – but the three with me didn’t touch their phones for the whole of Cinderella – even telling me off for Tweeting about this review before the curtain went up. While some of the jokes might have flown over their heads (like one about Adam and the Ants), they were fully immersed from the moment Fairy (the rather brilliant Joanne Clifton off-of Strictly) cha-cha-ed onto the stage to open the show.
I barely need to give you the story of Cinderella, but in this production the cast are such panto stalwarts they deserve a synopsis. Relative newcomer Marcavia McCarthy shines as the titular heroine, Cinderella, recently orphaned and faced with the prospect of domestic drudgery for her newly arrived ugly stepsisters AldiAnna and Lidleena (geddit?), played by Gordon Cooper and Matt Daines, probably a little long in the tooth for a wicked stepmother.
McCarthy’s Cinders is the subject of her best mate Buttons’ affections, but the feeling isn’t mutual, and comic Dave Bibby wrings every drop of sympathy out of the audience when he declares his suit, only to be rejected in favour of Prince Charming, played sweetly by Marcellus Whyte.
His servant/sidekick ‘Andini’ is Andy Day, of CBeebies fame, and while he may still be the longest serving children’s presenter on the BBC kids’ channel, he’s honed his acting chops in panto and still looks like he enjoys every minute (plus EVERYONE in the audience recognised him, from grannies to tiny tots).
You can usually tell if a panto is hitting its mark by how much the young’un’s are wriggling about on laps and begging for sweeties, and in the first half there was a lot of wriggling. But then the audience participation fully kicked in, with bellowed ‘he’s behind yous,’ and the obligatory verbal stalking of an unwitting male audience member by the Ugly Sisters (it was Chris at our show, never sit in the front five rows if you want to avoid this).
A couple of ‘oo’ moments were served up by a slightly creepy but impressive flying unicorn, some smoke and snow, the amazing costumes – mainly worn by the wicked stepsisters – and the impressive choreography and singing. This is a really talented cast, which isn’t, with the best will in the world, always the way with panto.
There’s a wonderful moment – no doubt triggering for the stalwarts who have unwavering views on how everything in the olden days was better and ruined by ‘wokeism.’ A junior cast member calls out the traditional panto set-up, for insisting that all heroines just want to find a prince and get married, or do housework, or wear pretty frocks to impress the male gaze, and how calling anyone ugly is bullying, and generally sending a rallying cry out to subvert the pantomime tropes. It’s a neat way of dragging an audience of all ages into seeing things through a modern lens.
There’s something for everyone in this version of Cinderella – even the man with the phone stopped scrolling and paid full attention in the second half.
So for a Christmas treat, buy a ticket, and enjoy a few hours of fun and laughter. Just, at least, put your phone away until the impressive finale.
Cinderella runs at Royal and Derngate until December 31 with booking and information available via the website or by calling the Box Office on 01604 624811.
