Upstaged Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
This year, eight-freestyle and Contact present a new production of the pantomime classic, Cinderella. This production manages to balance the familiarity of the original rags-to-riches story alongside a few modern twists. There is the absence of an Evil Stepmother and Cinderella dreams of a career as a dancer rather than marrying into the monarchy, and the production is littered with modern-day cultural references and contemporary pop songs.
Retaining most of the features of the traditional storyline, the script also incorporates some important messages around sustainability, fast fashion and consumerism – all pitched in a simple, non-preachy and accessible way for young people. This is something that Contact does very well, as seen earlier this summer in the Contact Young Company’s show, Hand Me Down, and through its intermittent clothes swap events.
With a four-piece band live on stage and movement from a small dance troupe of five talented performers, accompanied by a super-cute group of dynamic young dancers, the musical numbers are the dazzling highlight of this production. Musical theatre starlet Rebecca Crookson balances sweetness with girl-power as Cinderella and Ella-Maria Danson gives a strong vocal performance as Dandini.
The interaction between audience and performer is one of the key characteristics of pantomime – however, the opportunity for this felt very limited throughout this production. Running at around two and a half hours, the show would benefit from a little tightening – especially to ensure those younger members of the audience feel part of the action too.
With magical video projection to set the scene, a banging soundtrack and an abundance of super-talented young dancers, Cinderella brings elements of joy and community alongside important messages of environmental awareness.
-Kristy Stott
Cinderella runs at Contact until Sunday 31 December 2023.