Luke Barnes and Not Too Tame’s Cinderella offers a fun, adult alternative to your traditional panto. It’s more beer-stained carpet than custard-stained Dame.
The space at the Vaults is a full-functioning pub that the audience can freely use, and sets the scene for the show. Cinderella (Rosa Coduri) works in her late father’s karaoke pub, while being endlessly bullied by her cruel, yet sultry stepmother, Judy Garland (Lizzie Hopley) and sassy stepsisters, Simone (Louise Haggerty) and Garfunkel (Megan Pemberton). Cinderella is joined by her trusty sidekick and friend, Mike (Jimmy Fairhurst), who confidently owns the stage in Doc Martens and a sparkly mini dress. Meanwhile, Buttons (Patrick Knowles) is a depressed, suicidal dog who carries around a prosthetic leg for company.
The narrative is broken up with regular karaoke sessions, as the stepsisters break into Destiny’s Child ‘Bootylicious’ and stepmother counteracts with ‘Fever’ – not to mention a bit of Abba and Queen for good measure.
Coduri plays an independent, girl-next-door Cinderella, who isn’t necessarily looking for the traditional pathway in life. Nevertheless, her head is momentarily turned by a sparkly, earring-wearing Essex boy: Prince Charming (Jack Condon) who breaks into Dizzie Rascal’s ‘Dance Wiv Me’, accompanied by Mike and Buttons.
Not Too Tame play with the panto format, as the audience join in on a classic ‘Oh no he’s not’ …’Oh yes he is!’ when the stepsisters argue that Mike shouldn’t wear a dress to their party. And of course, Cinderella wears comfortable orthopaedic grandma slippers over unpractical glass ones! It’s all delightfully silly, and a pint-in-hand is a must.
Overall, Not Too Tame’s Cinderella is a right old knees-up, and a solid one to bring your mates to if you fancy a laugh, some drinks and a good festive night out!
Tess Kennedy
Tess Kennedy moved to London to be closer to her first love: theatre. It’s just a coincidence that she’s also now much closer to her second love, Idris Elba. During the week, Tess is a Social Media Manager, but in her spare time she enjoys reading, singing, yoga, pina coladas — although she can take or leave getting caught in the rain. Tess has been writing for Upper Circle since January 2019, where she’s seen more Fringe than Jonathan Van Ness, as well as plenty of one-woman-shows and musicals. Although she’s a big fan of the musical genre, Tess draws the line at Cats. That’s not because she’s a dog person though – Tess loves her family cats more than most humans – it’s because the visual of Idris Elba meowing in a skintight leotard gave her paws for thought.
