REVIEW: CinderELLA at the Nuffield Southampton Theatre

CinderELLA at the NST was the third reworking of the traditional magical Christmas Pantomime title of the week. Having seen a female Buttons marry an ugly sister at the Lyric Hammersmith and a smelly dog called Buttons get washed in a Karaoke pub at the Vaults, I was prepared for something different with the NST version this Christmas. In Michael Fentiman's version there is no Buttons and two Cinderellas, one young one, Cinders who cares for an older one Ella, whose two nieces Melania and Ivanka are trying to con her. With original music by Barnaby Rice and a cast of seven actor musicians the result is a quirky charming musical entertainment with more than a hint of the style and tone of Into the Woods and a slight sense of work in progress. 

There is a strong opening to the show with a grand evocative Art Deco ballroom stage setting and a gorgeous bridal gown centre stage which magical flies out to whoops of delight from the young girls in the audience. The opening number sets the tone with "Once upon a time" establishing the two Cinderella characters, both grieving lost love ones and the mystical policeman.

REVIEW: One Man, Two Guvnors at the Nuffield Southampton Theatre

Richard Bean's brilliant reworking of Goldoni's 1743 play Servant of Two Masters was a huge hit when it opened at the National Theatre 2011 and propelled James Cordon to superstar status on both sides of the Atlantic. He completely embodied the part of Francis Henshall and his performance was captured by NT Live and has just been rereleased to Cinemas. It is therefore very ambitious for the Ipswich Wolsey and NST to take on the production while the original is still so fresh in the mind. But if you have not seen the original this version is sure to make you laugh.

Bean has moved the action to 1963 Brighton and some shady characters caught up in the murder of unseen Roscoe Crabbe. Henshall in his desperation to earn enough to eat acquires two bosses, Roscoe's twin sister Rachel in disguise as her brother and her lover and the murderer of Roscoe, Stanley Stubbers. Not realising who they are the action centres around his desperate attempts to serve them both while keeping them apart so he can double his income. It creates plenty of opportunity for farcical interplay most of which recreates the original mayhem.