Cinderella
The new auditorium of the King’s Head Theatre, Islington only opened in January 2024 but follows a long pub-theatre history at the venue. Over the past 12 months the theatre has built its reputation for quality new productions – but some might think the programmers were crazy to try and perform a full-scale pantomime when the building only lends itself to black box/ fixed sets. How on earth would they cope with the complexities of pantomime, with no flies, wings or indeed capacity to change sets? The answer: commission Andrew Pollard as Writer/Director. His experience of the pantomime genre oozes through the production allowing the audience to ignore the physical limitations of the venue. Cast your eyes around the audience at any moment during the show and you can see the production is ticking all the right boxes. There’s modern songs for the teenagers, the odd risqué joke for the oldies, and a very funny hot-tub scene for all.
The size of the stage means that the seven-person cast is more than able to fill the space well and means that the high-quality vocals certainly sing through. However, there are risks with a small cast in such an intimate space: principally, there is nowhere to hide a dodgy vocal or missed cue. Fortunately, with this company this was never going to be an issue. Each performer creates a strong character which is relatable and well timed.
Maddy Erzan-Essien (Cinderella) confidently holds her own without a hint of soppiness that can be associated with the titular role. Her scenes with Prince Charming (Joseph Lukehurst) are tuneful and fun. And her friendship with Buttons (Robert Rees) is far more balanced than many of the older Cinderella scripts. Lucia Vinyard brings class and some high-quality vocals to the Fairy Codmother (no that’s not a typo) but needs to be seen. She has a whale of time delivering fish-based pun after fish-based pun, whilst Verity Kirks Italian accent as Dandini transitioning into Essex as she outs herself as Daniella is fun and worth the price of the ticket in itself.
At the heart of the Cinderella story is the relationship of the step-sisters (sometimes known as the Uglies). This sometimes can be a difficult partnership particularly if one actor has more experience than the other. At the King’s Head, the sisters Peckham and Dalston are played to perfection by Ella Vaday from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (AKA Nick Collier) and Harry Curley. Whilst Ella Vaday may be the more glamourous sister (at least within the glamour range of an ‘ugly’) Curley (who only graduated 2 years ago) more than matches his panto-partner’s energy with each being a perfect foil to the other. Their delivery was a masterclass of ensuring that every line landed and was understood by its intended audience (older or younger).
So is this panto perfection? Not entirely. It would be improved by a live band or keyboard and drums, but they have worked hard to overcome the limitations of space, and the talent on the stage more than compensates for the simple set. It is certainly an excellent first foray into the pantomime genre and I would say this is the panto to see this season. In other words it’s one Ella'Va Panto!
This show was reviewed on the 6th December 2024 at the King's Head Theatre, London where it runs until the 5th January 2025. Tickets available here: Cinderella | What's On | King's Head Theatre
Review written by Paul Wood & Ian Worsfold
Photo credit: Matt Crockett
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