Review: CINDERELLA, Wyvern Theatre Swindon
Photo credit: Anthony Hunt
Cinderella is a traditional pantomime story familiar to all, but Richard Gauntlet’s script and Ben Goffe’s charming central performances as Buttons gives it a fresh feel at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon.
All of the traditional elements are present, but Goffe’s engaging and bubbly personality beautifully combines the comedy with his unrequited love for Cinders. David Ashley directs and stars as Dame Molly Muggins and shows all of his experience from eighteen pantomimes playing with the audience with his “Co-eys”.
Together with Goffe, they perform an amusing ice cream slosh scene, a mastermind routine, and in the second act, the classic Balloon Ballet at the ball. The juxtaposition of the tall Dame as the ballerina and Goffe as the long-haired male dancer adds to the joy of this wonderful routine, which is executed with precision and delightful comic touches. Even the ghost bench scene is given a wonderful fresh makeover with Ashley and Goffe chased through the auditorium by the ghost before the final onstage twist with the Ugly Sisters. These little changes will delight regular pantomime goers and certainly had the young first-time visitors in this audience whooping with delight.
The other crucial element is the magic of the Act 1 transformation and Cinderella’s departure on a coach to the ball and in this respect, the production again delivers with a very well-lit and enchanting Pegasus horse rising off the stage with the crystal coach behind as the curtain falls. It creates a very pretty tableaux to send the kids off for their ice creams! Indeed, all of the sets are bright, colourful and effectively set the scenes with the Prince’s castle often seen in the distant background.
There is a freshness too in some of the comedy like when Buttons sells newspapers to a stranger, who turns out to be the Prince (Jack Malin) in disguise in the opening scene, and the newspaper gag is returned too later; a good quick routine with Goffe on the trumpet playing a fanfare. There is just enough innuendo to tickle the adults without prompting questions from the children, with a lovely visual gag as Buttons walks across the stage with a collection of rubber balloons to set up a gag in the next scene. These touches of innovation adds so much to the overall sense of joy and fun.
The Ugly Sisters are played with a suitable amount of malevolent spite by Eleanor Burke and Sophie Hirst as Siri and Alexa, which seemed to set up a gag about electronic voices that never came! Lisa George, better known as Beth Sutherland in Coronation Street, brings a lovely Northern, slightly scatty vibe to the Fairy Godmother and she sings well too. The London voice is represented by a Cockney Dandini, Josiah Eloi, who confidently struts the stage.
At the centre of the story is the lovely Maisie Scarlett as Cinderella, creating a believable innocent young girl who tries to get on with everyone and falls immediately for Prince Charming. She leads the choreography with precision, handles all of the different relationships well, and blossoms in the transformation .
This is an excellent production led by Goffe with the sure hand of Ashley guiding the direction and a very good supporting cast. This is perhaps the best pantomime at the Wyvern in Swindon for a good many years.
**** Four stars
Reviewed by: Nick Wayne
Cinderella plays at Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre until 5 January 2025, with further info here.