-

 

                                           CINDERELLA

                                                         The Wilmcote Players

                                                          Wilmcote Village Hall *****

 

La Scala in Milan; the Marinsky Theatre in St Petersburg; the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden…  I have reviewed in all these prestigious venues, and countless more, but never have I enjoyed myself so much as I did on Friday in Wilmcote’s compact, welcoming Village Hall.

Wilmcote Players’ Cinderella was a genuine community effort, with seemingly half the village involved, whether as performers, backstage helpers, front of house, chief hecklers – or simply as the willing, appreciative audience. We all had a wonderful time.

No clapped-out TV personalities dominating the cast here. This was a team in which everyone starred, from the little dots performing so charmingly as fairies and elves, through the remarkably versatile and well-choreographed chorus, and up into the principals, each a vital cog in an energetically turning wheel.

Melissa Nesbitt’s continually lively script provided a context for joyful, lively banter between cast and audience, and was peppered with village references in this Wilmcotonia setting (the Mary Arden inn, the Village Vine monthly) and topical allusions, not least giving the US President a bit of a roasting.

Nesbitt herself played the Fairy Godmother, slightly scatterbrained as usual, but certainly spreading the magic. Aby Hawker was a Cinderella more feisty than we generally see, and Sarah Carrington-Gull was a truly sympathetic, engaging Buttons. Cinderella’s pet mouse was a silent role, but the eloquence of Kate Whyman’s eyes and body-language conveyed worlds of emotion.

Pete Long’s King was suitably bumbling, led along by Lynne Shakespeare’s devious, malevolent Lady Hardup, Cinderella’s stepmother, despite the stuffed-shirt concerns of the Lord Chamberlain (Helen Douglas).

This was a show brimming with the traditional but ever-fresh spirit of pantomime, conveyed most markedly by Prince Charming and his equerry Dandini. Carolyn Robinson was the quintessential Principal Boy, long legs ending in thighs eloquently slapped, and Jane Batchelor a Dandini smart and naturally correct (except when having enjoyed too much champagne). The continual to-ing and fro-ing as the pair conversed, so hated on the purist stage, was perfect for pantomime which turns the straight theatre so much on its head.

And so we come to the Ugly Sisters, and gorgeously ugly they were, too. Martyn Gull was Ivana Hardup, resplendent in a Marge Simpson-style skyscraper-high purple wig, and Vince Holley was Ivanka Hardup, complete with lugubrious Brummie accent, and problems whenever she had to introduce herself (think about it – the nearest we came to doubles entendres --, and, too, the Trumpian significance of these given names).

Singing and dancing were backed by recorded well-known pop songs, expertly marshalled by the backstage sound team to complement the splendidly inventive costumes. Among these numbers were “Big Spender”, “We Go Together”, and whenever mention was made of village people, “YMCA” exploded in front of us.

Christopher Morley

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