Cinderella : one last review?

Mrs G kindly shared her this review published last week in the Independent. Naturally it is a great one.

CINDERELLA Old Vic LONDON ****

The first thing that I noticed at the Old Vic's production of
Cinderella was the audience. On
a grey, cold evening, this was
definitely a group that was up for a panto: they sang and clapped along with the overture and the roar that greeted the rising of the curtain was quite deafening. However, the master of ceremonies, Sandi Toksvig, soon wrested control back.

This new version of Cinderella is written by Stephen Fry, whom every woman in the audience - and not a few men - can now thank for introducing into pantoland the concept of two gorgeous men stripping and showering.

I feared for the safety of the girls sixth form in the upper circle, who were leaning perilously over the balcony in an attempt to see under Joseph Millson's dressing gown. Luckily, none of them fell into the stalls, even when he entered the shower and removed his underwear with a flourish.

Sandi Toksvig excels with the manner of a bossy headmistress and makes the most of the script. She cajoled two wary-looking children on to the stage and made it very funny without ever patronising them. Pauline Collins steals every scene she is in as an irascible Fairy Godmother. There are singing mice, sing-alongs, very long words and a running joke about cake.

Some of the jokes are pretty bawdy, but the audience loved every minute of it.
The script - funny, self deprecating and full of references - is clearly aimed at the classic Old Vic theatre-goer. Toksvig explained at one point that she loved Tesco because it kept the riff raff out of Waitrose. The resulting cheer lifted the rafters.

There are jokes about the National Theatre, Kevin Spacey and cleaning products, all of which went over the heads of the younger members of the audience - but they didn't notice, as there is also ample opportunity to scream, "Oh no you don't!" and "She's behind you!"

At the beginning of the show, Toksvig descends in an armchair, outlining the story ahead. She is accurate on all counts, except for one: "Love, the purest, truest love there ever was". Love is sacrificed for spectacle in this production, perhaps understandably so, but it would make the evening perfect if, when Joseph Millson's Prince sweeps Cinders up in his arms, every heart in the audience melts.

Instead, it is a mere punctuation in a cascade of events.
So it isn't perfect, but it is pretty close. If you know a child with a ticket, steal it: you'll get more out of it than they will and you won't have to explain what a dildo is.

Susannah Clements

Human resources director