Cinderella, At The Contact Theatre, Manchester Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by H Chan

The festive season is upon us once again, and what better way to start the celebrations than a traditional panto! There’s nothing like audience participation and awful jokes to get everyone cheery.

Of course we bundled up the children (aged 14, 11 and 8) and headed out into the rain for the Contact Theatre just off Oxford road in Manchester.  We’ve been to this theatre before and my son always comments on how it reminds him of Wonka’s chocolate factory from the outside.

Inside, you’ll find clean toilets, friendly staff and a lovely little café.  We had a ground floor, wheelchair accessible booth waiting for us, which was right in front of the stage.  We had an excellent view from here, we could see and hear everything we needed to.

The auditorium itself isn’t very large, so it provides a more intimate atmosphere that you don’t get in some larger theatres.  Parking is limited in the area, so I recommend looking at places to park in advance and walk in as far as you can.  The roads can get very busy, especially in the evenings.

Eight-Freesyle’s shows never disappoint, and we always look forward to any show put together by this group as they’re always so much fun!  It is clear to see the time and effort and passion that everyone involved have put in.

This show, a retelling of Cinderella, follows Fairy Flo – played by Kate Mitchell – as she completes her final mission, to gain her fairy godmother wings.  She needs to help Cinderella fulfil her destiny of dancing at the Prince’s ball.  However, poor Cinderella is watched over by her cruel, very flamboyant and outrageous step sisters Verucca – played by Lady Bushra, and Herniyah – played by Misty Chance.  Both are ‘local to Manchester’ Drag sensations.  They played their roles brilliantly, and although you’d expect many innuendos and adult jokes from the dames of the show, it was overall very tame with the odd ball joke being the worst of it.  I think you’d be hard pushed to find anyone better to have played their roles this evening. 

You’ll also meet her best friend Buttons who was played by Red Redmond, who was also very memorable in his role.  A very funny man, who actually co wrote the panto with Sean Canning.  The children remembered him and his acting style from the panto we saw last year!  Steven Jackson had a role as Cinderella’s inventor father Baron Stoneybroke, who had a side plot involving debt collectors, Elon and Musk.  We liked his character and it would have been nice to have seen a little more of him and his inventions.  Some of the roles were played by members of the Contact Young Company, and the ensemble were amazing dancers.

We enjoyed Ryan Hall’s portrayal of Prince Charming, and the energetic Dandini who was played by Ella Maria Danson.
At the back of the stage, was a brilliant live band, who played along with all of the hits and sound effects.  The sound quality was great, although the singing was occasionally drowned out by the volume of the music.    Those who sang had excellent voices, especially Cinderella herself.  Dance along with hits like Shake it off by Taylor Swift, One way or Another by Blondie and Dance the Night by Dua Lipa.  Also included in the show, were the most adorable young dancers!  We simply loved them as little mice and they were so fully of energy that they made us smile every time they entered the stage.

A couple of parts of the show did seem to lack fire in some places, but it was more than made up for in others.  I loved how minor mistakes were covered by excellent improv and the fact that the cast seemed to know each other well enough to make little jokes about each other in these moments.  Some might have picked up on an underlying message that it didn’t matter who you were, rags or riches, you were worth knowing.  The Prince loved Cinderella regardless and the step sisters received their comeuppance!

The only thing I didn’t really get from the show was that it was said to have added girl power, I didn’t really get this until the very end where they changed the ending ever so slightly.  I did love how Cinders seemed to have her own mind and ideas.  Remaining kind and true to the end.  The whole show was what we’d expect from Cinderella, laughs, a familiar storyline and of course it ends on a high with lots of singing and dancing.

Over all we gave the pantomime 4.5/5 stars and we would, without a doubt, return to another Eight-Freestyle show and to the Contact Theatre.

The show runs from December 9th, to December 31st. You can find tickets here. Prices vary from £25 – £30, which is a very affordable and fantastic price point for a pantomime, especially one as great as this.

Rating: 4.5/5