It was a real treat to take our two children, aged 6 and 9, to see Cinderella at the Oxford Playhouse. Pantos are always worth supporting, providing traditional seasonal surrealism with plenty of light-hearted humour, alongside an important income source for venues large and small across the country. This year's offering from the Playhouse is a high-quality show, with good jokes, a healthy sprinkling of magic, and a terrific cast who seem to be having a whale of a time.
The story is simply reworked, seeing a shy Prince Charming coming of age and returning to take charge of his kingdom, which turns out to have been woefully mismanaged by the evil regent Dandina. With a little help from her mouse friends and a watchful fairy, Cinderella must help the prince to claim his birthright, in spite of opposition from Dandina, who is not quite ready to give up her grip on power.
The creative team have done a wonderful job, using a lot of sparkle and excellent choreography to keep everyone engaged. The effect is lavish but not overwhelming - such a lot is done with a small cast and simple but well-designed sets. The obligatory modernisations to the plot are amusing and sensitively worked. Though not aggressively topical, the script is quite on point, bringing home a persuasive message about the things that matter in life: friendship, music, decent public services, and David Attenborough. Perhaps a little on the long side for smaller people, the show still zipped along and managed to cram in all the beloved panto staples, from sweet-throwing to eye-watering audience participation.
A panto can rise and fall on the booability of its villain, and Alica Marshall shines as the glamorously evil Dandina. While cheerfully varying traditionally non-traditional panto gender roles, this production has gone all out with two horrifying but likeable ugly sisters (Alasdair Buchan and Roddy Peters) making risque jokes carefully pitched to go over the kids' heads. The leads get fewer jokes, but Priscille Grace and Connor Wood bring the audience right on side with their idealistic but up-to-date approach to romance. Philippa Carson steals the show as Buttons the mouse, with great dancing and some of the cutest gags. There's plenty of pleasing whimsy from the fairy Robin Hemmings, and wonderful ensemble work throughout by Daisy Elwin and Emmanuel Duarte backed up by the Cinderella young company (Team Blue on our night!).
I don't want to reveal too much about the parts the children enjoyed most. Suffice it to say that the audience is included in the fun, the nonsense and the magic throughout. The nine year old said 'it was all amazing, apart from when the sweets hit me in the face'. Having seen her expression on discovering that the missile was a packet of Haribo, I think she'd recommend even that part.