Mind-blowing, Amazing and Very Funny

Cinderella

by Will Brenton

Imagine Theatre at Phoenix Concert Hall, Croydon until 5th January

A review by Evie Schaapveld, one of our younger reviewers (aged 9)

I thought this panto of Cinderella was mind blowing, mind blowing as in my head nearly exploded because it was just so amazingly good.

One mind blowing bit was when Cinderella gets her luxurious ball gown. It was really very beautiful. They had a white sheet first where they projected these just beautiful images whilst the spell was commencing. Then they took it off, and she was wearing the beautiful gown.

I gave the set and props 10/10. The screen background at the back of the stage was really good because it made the stage crew’s jobs easier. They didn’t have to change the set as the images were projected on to the back.

I gave the costumes 9/10. One of the stepsisters, Claudia had a pineapple costume and later on a chandelier costume and I thought that was a bit weird! The other step sister Tess had an improved version of what Claudia wearing. She had a version that was still a chandelier but different to Claudia’s.

There were four characters who made me laugh the most. In order, first was Buttons, then the step sisters and then the stepmother. I think Buttons was very funny, probably the funniest character and my favourite.

Cinderella was very nice. She was quite shy at the beginning and didn’t really stand up for herself, but she became a very confident girl at the end. She was OK with standing up for herself, and was the kind of girl I’d like to be.

Prince Charming was a very good singer. He was a good lad, with a kind spirit. He just thinks all the girls want him for his money and riches and because if they marry him they’ll get rich (like the stepmother and the stepsisters). But when he meets Cinderella, she didn’t want him for his riches, she wanted him as he was a good man.

I thought his friend Dandini was very funny and he tried to help his friend. He knows that the Prince just wants to go out of the castle, so he gives him an idea of how to do that. They swap positions so the prince is the butler and the butler is the prince.

The ugly sisters were, as with all Dames, very funny. Dames are usually good people in Pantos, but in this one, the stepsisters had to be the Dames. I didn’t actually want to boo them, they were just too funny to boo!

The stepmother was an evil character, but she was a bit funny as well. In Pantos wicked people should have one funny part, at least one funny quirk. They should have something funny to say in a pantomime.

The fairy godmother was very nice. We didn’t see much of her but I liked how she had this little pink trail of fairy dust. It was very beautiful.

I liked how the dancers involved the children. There were three men and three women, and they were each in a pair like at the ball they were dancing whilst Cinderella and the Prince danced.

In the first scene the children were villagers, in the second scene they were like palace helpers, not slaves. Then the children were like little fairies. I found it very fun and the children were nice.

In the panto, they did the custard pies and he’s behind you. They had the thing when they brought out different chocolate bars and completed the sentences. The audience shouted out, and someone in the audience shouted out “Boris Johnson!” But they didn’t include the “oh no they didn’t, oh yes they did”.

Overall it was very nice and I found it very funny and enjoyable. I’d recommend other people to go and see this Cinderella twice, it was worth it even if they have to travel from Hampton to Croydon!

Evie Shaapveld
December 2019

Photography by Craig Sugden