The magic wand has been waved, and Christmas is officially upon us!
With sparkling lights, glittery outfits, mulled wine and hot chocolate, The Lyceum in Edinburgh sprung into full festive mode as the curtain raised for a hilarious twist on classic fairytale, Cinderella.
And funny it really was. There were genuine belly laughs from the audience obviously up for some giggles and there were smiles all around thanks to a fantastic script by Sally Cookson, Adam Peck and The Original Company and direction from Jemima Levick.
We all know the story of Cinderella, but the clever writers had taken it to a new modern level, with simple but effective costumes and set by Francis O’Connor and magical music and sound from Jon Beales and Parasol Wu.
Brightly coloured puppet birds expertly led by director Matthew Forbes set the scene as Ella (Olivia Hemmati) tries to come to terms with the loss of her soulmate and father played by Richard Conlon, who had just remarried and taken on two stepchildren.
His new wife turns out to be a nasty stepmother (Nicole Cooper clearly relishes the role) and her garish coloured clothes and fancy earrings hide her horrible temper and vicious tongue which she saves for Ella and her own children (Matthew Forbes and Christina Gordon).
Sitting out in the forest one day, Ella meets a fellow birdwatcher (played by Sam Stopford), who fails to tell her that he is a Prince.
He invites Ella to his party to meet his mum, who just happens to be The Queen, (fabulously undertaken by Carly Anderson) and Ella excitedly rushes back to the house to tell her new family.
But the stepmother wants her own little girl to marry a Prince and so does everything in her power to stop Ella from attending by plying her with chores.
Luckily for Ella she has the birds on her side, and they magically sweep away all the problems and provide her with a sparkly dress and shoes for the occasion.
When Ella discovers her new friend is in fact a Prince, she runs for the hills and leaves a trainer behind. What follows is hilarious as her new beau tries to find his true love with the help of his servants played by Leo Shak and Stephanie Cremona.
They run in and out of the audience trying to find the owner of the shoe and when they arrive at Ella’s house, the stepmother takes drastic steps to get the boot to fit her daughter’s foot.
As with any great fairytale, all ends well and it’s a happy ever after story which leaves the audience feeling happy and fulfilled!
Cinderella: A Fairytale runs at The Royal Lyceum Edinburgh until 3rd January 2026. For information and ticket availability, please visit: www.lyceum.org.uk.
Author Bio:
Rebecca Hay is an experienced travel writer and member of The British Guild of Travel Writers. Follow her adventures with her family on Twitter and Instagram @emojiadventurer and on Facebook via EmojiAdventurers2.
Photographs courtesy of Mihaela Bodlovic
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