Review: CINDERELLA, King's Head Theatre

Written and directed by British Panto Award winner Andrew Pollard, Cinderella is given a “North London upgrade” in the King’s Head theatre’s first ever pantomime. Maddy Erzan-Essien stars as the titular heroine, a girl who longs to find her place in the world and is forced to serve her evil stepsisters under the watchful eye of their mother (voiced by the iconic Miriam Margoyles).

In this London and Islington-themed production (A proud “fully fabulous North London pantomime experience”), the two ugly stepsisters are named Peckham (Ella Vaday/Nick Collier) and Dalston (Harry Curley), two desperate women in search of an upgrade. The setting? Islington itself, with Cinderella being the heiress to Sadler’s Wells, which leads to a water-themed pantomime.

The story follows the classic beats of the Cinderella story that one might expect - Cinderella meets and falls in love with Prince Charming (the charming Joseph Lukehurst) and is only able to go to the ball with the help of her fairy godmother, whose magic only lasts until midnight. After Cinderella runs away and leaves behind a glass slipper, Prince Charming goes on a quest to find the mysterious maiden, leading to a city-wide search in which women try to fit into the slipper - you can guess how it ends. Most of this is kept the same, with the fairy godmother being renamed the “Fairy Codmother” (Lucia Vinyard), who has a tendency to speak in fishy puns and belt out inspirational songs at the drop of a magic wand. And the pantomime even has a narrator, as every fairy tale should, voice by none other than Dame Judi Dench!

As this was the “adults only” version of Cinderella, there were plenty of dirty jokes that would not have flown in the family-friendly pantomime. Kudos to the cast for having to memorise and perform two different versions of the same pantomime - I can only hope they don’t get mixed up in front of the children! Along with the dirty jokes, another benefit of the “adults only” version is that some West End stars join the cast, including Cassidy Janson, John Owen-Jones and Christina Bianco. At this particular performance, our guest star was Danielle Steers, who gave a stunning cabaret-style performance that had nothing to do with the show as a whole but had me wishing we had been able to see more of her in the pantomime - she would have been a delightful Fairy Codmother!

One of my favourite performances of the night was given by Verity Kirk as “Dandini,” the Italian assistant to Prince Charming who is revealed to be Danielle of Dagenham, a woman who disguises herself as a man in order to gain power and influence she never could while presenting as a woman. Kirk gives an absolutely delightful performance, especially when her character struggles to keep herself hidden after falling in love with Cinderella’s closest friend, Buttons  (Robert Rees), making Buttons question his feelings for who he believes to be a man. Kirk gives a fantastic rendition of Paul Russell’s “Lil Boo Thang,” along with several other songs throughout the show that allow her to show off her vocal skills. 

Another highlight of the show is its costumes and set (designed by Gregor Donnelly), particularly the puppets! In collaboration with the Little Angel Theatre, Oliver Hymans and Ash Appadu have designed some great puppets, especially the silly (if not slightly disturbing) Quakers the Duck, which is operated by different cast members, though typically Buttons, who always has some comment about sticking his hand up the rear of a duck. Another impressive puppet is revealed during Cinderella’s magical transformation, though I won’t go into too many spoilers on that, except to mention that the character is voiced by Su Pollard!

Unfortunately, while there are some strong performances in Cinderella, they alone cannot make the pantomime as a whole a spectacular affair. There are plenty of pop culture references tossed about, including a bit about “holding space” (a reference to the Wicked movie press tour) and there are pop songs as well, like Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and Chappell Roan’s “Hot to Go!,” but none of the lyrics are changed to reflect the plot of the story, making for some confusing choices. There are a few songs from the hit 2023 Barbie movie, including Cinderella singing the anthem, Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?,” but these more sombre moments tend to fail in contrast to the hilarity of the ugly stepsisters, who thrive in the “adults-only” atmosphere. 

The character of Buttons is one of the most unlikable characters I have seen on stage. I can imagine that Rees does a lovely job in the family-friendly version, but this character suffers when put into the world of an “adults only” pantomime. Some of his antics are amusing, including the call and response he has with the audience every time he enters the stage, but most of the jokes in the script are dated and struggle to get laughs. Several times throughout the show, it appears that Rees breaks and he struggles to get back on track, but it simply leads to confusion, not amusement. There is also an incredibly distasteful joke about Whitney Houston that comes out of nowhere and has no reason to be in a pantomime. 

Cinderella is a decent pantomime with a fun concept of having both family-friendly and “adults only” versions of the same show. It’s a decent start for the King’s Head Theatre’s first pantomime, especially with its fantastic set and costumes and some great performances. But, just because it is an “adults only” version, that doesn’t mean that it needs to be offensive. 

Cinderella runs until 5 January 2025 at the King’s Head Theatre.

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