Review: Cinderella, Theatre Royal Bath

Pantomime is often a child’s first experience of live performance, so you have to do it with respect for them – it’s quite a responsibility. You also have to respect the adults they come with, who have traditional expectations of what they are about to see. Jon Monie – a stalwart of Theatre Royal Bath’s annual panto, first as a side-kick to Chris Harris and now the main attraction himself – is the master of pleasing both at the same time.

He sets the show in the village of Little Savings (just down the road from Lower Income) where Baron Hardup lives, with his daughter Cinderella and her ugly step-sisters. Monie plays Buttons, of course, with his trademark heartbreaking combination of warmth, wit and pathos.

Dani Harmer has graduated to Fairy Godmother status, arriving in a puff of smoke and driving events with her belief that ‘you can’t hide what’s in your heart’. She is engaging, but slightly under par and is outperformed by the strong pairings of Duncan Birt and Nic Gibney as the man-hungry, gold-digging sisters and Josh Rose and Chris Fearn as Prince Charming and his smarter servant, Dandini.

Elly Jay gives us a feisty Cinderella, whose eventual partnership with the Prince (sorry for the spoiler) looks like a marriage of equals, as you’d hope in a panto of our times. And the ensemble dancers are full of personality, stepping up to supporting roles which make the whole company feel properly cohesive.

Historically, theatre makers would use pantomimes to advertise their skills. All the traditional elements were there to display the very best in costume, set, lights, music and technical wizardry – so that itinerant creatives could showcase their skills to prospective producers. That’s why there are set pieces that appear in every panto, whichever story it is telling.

(L-R) Duncan Burt as Melody Hard-up, Chris Feran as Dandini, and Nic Gibney as Harmony Hard-up – photo: Theia Turland

Monie and director Hannah Starkey keep many of those traditions here, but freshen things up with some delightful new sequences – one involved a song sung by three characters sitting on a wall, which had the person next to me rocking with laughter. The transformation scene actually brought him, and me, to tears.

Sitting in a theatre, surrounded by children shouting and pointing in the benevolent belief that they are helping the characters on stage to find someone, or warning them of something, is a great experience for a wizened, seen-it-all-before theatregoer. It’s so lovely to hear children explaining the plot to their parents, and even better hearing those parents not explaining half the jokes in return.

Theatre Royal Bath has four Christmas shows running this year, which is a remarkable achievement. Cinderella isn’t innovative, or arch, or experimental. What it is, though, is joyful.

Elly Jay as Cinderella, with ensemble cast – photo: Freia Turland

Cinderella is at Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath, BA1 1ET until January 9, 2022, at varied times with daily matinees. More information and tickets are available at www.theatreroyal.org.uk.

Main photo: Freia Turland

Read more: Review: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Bristol Hippodrome

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