ACT Reviews 2022-2023 Season

Kat Rawling was the sweet natured character central to the story, Cinderella. Her portrayal of the down-trodden other sister was demure and feminine. The singing was delightful. Her amour-to-be, Prince Elliot was well played by a young actor, Emily Maddocks. There was a confidence in her portrayal of this character. As this was her first foray into the world of pantomime, well done! For me, a key element in pantomime is for a principal to do the Dorothy Ward thigh slap, and I was not disappointed. Jem Marshall-Ayre was Dandini the manservant to the Prince who swap roles. There was confidence in dialogue delivery and subtle changes of character from servant to confident Prince, and back again. Along with other key characters King Jack (Daniel Cope), Queen Jill (Melissa Mottershead), Loki the cat (Sue Bradbury) and the four fairies, the story made its way to the inevitable wedding all guided by the Fairy Godmother (Isabelle King). As is tradition the character speaks in rhyme: there was good projection by Isabelle so that the dialogue could be heard. There was a nice section delivered virtually on a screen in the basement. Thought had gone into the staging when writing the script so that scene changes were quick. This was due to the scenes being staged in three areas. The two side platforms served as the area generally used by the Fairy Godmother and the other, the basement often used by Cinderella. Then there was the central stage which had a static set that was in situ throughout and consisted of a staircase. Props were brought on and off

throughout and often covered by a running cloth masking these changes while characters did a walk across. The transformation scene for Cinders is always a highlight of this pantomime, this was covered well and when the curtains opened a coach and live ponies were on stage