**** (4 stars)
“Delight’s All Ages”
The Lyceum Christmas show always presents an individual and quirky take on traditional or well-kent tales, and this year’s Cinderella is no exception. Not an Edinburgh-based tale, for once, but one with a distinctly Scottish flavour, this production entertains and delights in equal measure.
The story is familiar – but with quirky twists. Ella’s mother died when she was young, and she and her father have been very happy together, sharing a love of the birds that live in the forest where they live. Her father remarries and confidently expects that Ella will come to love his new wife and her two children – nothing could be further from the truth! When her father dies, his widow discovers that the fortune she thought she’d married is non-existent. Ella is demoted to the life of a skivvy, and mother, son and daughter delight in mocking and humiliating Ella, who now has to sleep among the cinders in the kitchen.
A young man comes to forest to watch birds – the first time he has ever seen them in their natural setting. He’s very excited about this, and when he meets Ella shares with her his hope to see some of the very rare birds he has in his bird book. He’s very surprised when Ella is able to mimic their calls and summon them to her. He invites her to a ball the following evening, and she’s delighted at the prospect of dancing, which she loves. Of course, he’s the prince, and of course Ella doesn’t have any idea of this.
And so the story continues, with the Mother setting Ella impossible tasks and delighting in preventing her from going to the ball – but here, instead of a fairy godmother saving the day, it’s the birds who complete the impossible tasks and provide a dress and a pair of wonderfully sparkly [ruby] sneakers to complete Ella’s costume for the ball. A sneaker is lost, the Prince is disconsolate: he sets out to find the girl whom the sneaker will fit and despite the Mother’s best efforts, Ella gets to marry the Prince and the Mother is suitably punished.
The cast are uniformly excellent. Olivia Hammati graduated from the Old Vic Theatre School last year and is perfect as the loving and vulnerable Ella – feisty, too, and quick-wittedly devising a scheme to get her revoltingly affected and unpleasant step-siblings helping her with her chores. Matthew Forbes and Christina Gordon have a field day with these two nasty characters – though the Brother does reveal a kindlier side, and one does have some sympathy with the Sister as she fails to live up to the Mother’s impossible expectations. Richard Conlon is a warm and sympathetic, if easily deluded, Father, Carly Anderson is a wonderfully sparky Scottish Queen, and Sam Stopford a suitably gangly, unconfident and painfully shy Prince. Nicole Cooper steals the show as the impossibly arrogant, heartless monster determined to claw her way out of poverty by forcing her daughter into the Prince’s arms – even performing instant surgery when her foot won’t fit the sparkly sneaker…
Set and costume designer Francis O’Connor provides quirky and colourful contemporary costumes and has a field day with the mops, brooms and ladders which feature largely in poor Ella’s hard-working life. A giant mirror cleverly represents the glamour and glitter of the royal court, a striking contrast to the dismal domestic scene. There is a wonderfully riotous plate-smashing sequence in the kitchen and a joyfully abandoned dance number at the ball. Gloriously colourful birds [excellent puppetry here] flit throughout the show, offering comfort, consolation, assistance and the hope of a return to the much brighter life Ella remembers from her very young days. Composer and MD Jon Beales has written some catchy songs; there are some lovely dances to help the story along; and the cast throw themselves into everything with great gusto.
Cinderella is a great ensemble piece, with something to delight all ages: an excellent way to celebrate the festive season.
Cinderella: A Fairy Tale, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, runs until Saturday 3rd January 2026 for more information and tickets go to: https://lyceum.org.uk/events/cinderella-a-fairytale
ScotsGay Arts 