The Stage Door is a well-known and much loved venue situated in the heart of Southampton, but I simply don’t think that this was the right place for this ‘adult’ panto. It may have been the raucous crowd or the drunken mumblings of a man discussing the difference between Kiwis and passionfruit as he got increasingly more inebriated, but this show tonight felt a little bit like a struggle between cast and audience.
I simply must commend the cast on their continued professionalism, however, as nothing seemed to faze them and, as the old adage states, the show must go on.
Cinderella And Her Pussy In Boots, I must say, is unlike any show I have ever seen, and nothing like any Pantomime I have ever been a part of.
The first act opened strongly with Annabella Rich’s Fairy (whose name I couldn’t possibly put here!) and her rather amusing rhymes. The only issue I had – and it cropped up once or twice throughout – is that the sound system simply did not carry the voices of the cast and many an amusing line was lost amidst the rabble of tipsy voices. Annabella came into her own, however, in Act 2 as – once again – she opened the act, and smashed it out of the park with her twisted rendition of ‘Hot Stuff’.
My star of the show this evening went wholeheartedly to Amelia Greco as Cinderella, who was about as perfectly cast as could be, as her graceful elegance and beautifully batting eyelashes contrasted spectacularly with the language she used and the songs that she sang. I would cast Amelia as Cinderella any day of the week and, after this performance, I would never put this actress in a box as she displayed great versatility and showed off a rather cracking singing voice as well.
This show did not have a weak link for me, as even the Stage Manager (Kirsty White) stole the show momentarily with a rather well timed gag with a bench.
Cinderella And Her Pussy In Boots is certainly not a show I would sell to the faint hearted, or easily offended, but I would highly recommend it to anyone I thought would enjoy a distasteful joke and a rip-roaringly good laugh.
The only downside for me was that – just occasionally – I felt that an innuendo would have actually been funnier than the ‘in your face’ sexual humour that ran throughout and was sometimes just a little over used.
For myself, I felt that Act 2 was the better act by far and would suggest that this rather talented director (David Dobson) try more things away from the classic tales, as when we deviated away from the well known Cinderella story, I found myself more engaged as a whole. David also displayed a fantastic range as a creative as he wrote, stared in and directed this piece.
Well done to the cast and crew of Cinderella And Her Pussy In Boots. I had a thoroughly good time and I would certainly come to see whatever they come up with next year.
Further performances: Thursday 13 – Saturday 15, Wednesday 19 – Saturday 22 and Thursday 27 – Saturday 29 December
