WRITTEN by Lynda Radley, with music by Michael John McCarthy, this Cinderella – with its pronounced concerns for ecology, the power of protest and the uses and abuses of social media – is enough to send the “anti-woke” brigade into paroxysms of concocted outrage.
Welcome, then, to Willow Grove Farm, where the orphaned Ella (that’s Cinders to you and me) busies herself tending to her prize carrots. Meanwhile, her wicked stepmum, Lenore, plots to ruin the greenbelt land so that the local council will agree to its sale to the splendidly named uber-capitalist Apollo King.
Add to that Ella’s step-siblings Florence (a would-be management guru to A-list celebrities) and Laurence (a comically conceived online influencer). As if that weren’t enough, our hero’s best friends (welly boots Leftie and Rightie) go through a sudden anthropomorphism.
Radley’s adaptation of the millennia-old folk tale may be somewhat convoluted, but it lacks for nothing in boldness. What it does lack, however, is a clear theatrical identity.
At one level it is a play with songs: it doesn’t have quite enough going on musically to truly be a stage musical.
In other aspects, the piece leans towards pantomime. In Ann Louise Ross’s despicably venal Lenore and John Macaulay’s soulless, bullying Apollo King, the show has two boo-hiss baddies for the price of one.
However, Radley’s script just isn’t funny enough to secure the comic high ground occupied by panto.
It’s a great pity that the production falls so awkwardly between two stools. Director Jemima Levick’s staging is not without its charms. Hannah Visocchi’s strong and sympathetic Ella leads a good cast.
However, in the end, despite its various strengths, this is a well-intentioned, somewhat misconceived and, crucially, insufficiently Christmassy piece of festive theatre.
Until December 31: dundeerep.co.uk
