Cinderella

Rose Theatre

Playing until 4th January 2026

Book tickets

Photo credit: Mark Douet

{PR Gifted ticket}

This version of Cinderella revisits the fairy tale Cinderella through a modern lens, flavoured with a pinch of High School Musical and a sprinkle of The Wizard of. It’s not a panto, but a proper family musical.

Costume and Set designer, Ryan Dawson Laight, has created a slightly squashed family house standing at the centre of the stage. It looks small in the middle but it opens up throughout the show, and its compact size leaves plenty of room for lively group dance numbers choreographed by Shay Barclay.

Maddy Hunter makes her debut as Ella, not the saintly, patient Cinderella we’re used to, but a grumpy, contemporary teenager permanently annoyed at the world. Ever since the arrival of her twin baby sisters, Serena and Greta, nicely renamed Snotty and Grotty by Ella, she feels shoved out of the spotlight by her dad (Simon Yadoo) and her stepmother (Kara Lily Hayworth).

Chris Bush, Roni Neale cleverly flips the roles of the characters to provide a spin on this well-known tale. The “wicked stepmother” is actually kind and overwhelmed, while Cinderella is the rude one. Everything is a crisis for Ella: her new bedroom that “might as well be outside” (it is an ensuite), peeling a few carrots which she declares makes her a maid, and the final insult, discovering the traditional turkey has been swapped for a pumpkin. She storms off in dramatic fashion and wishes herself far, far away.

Right on cue, three sparkly beings appear: Sapphire, Ruby and Cubic Zirconia, the BFFs: Best Fairy Friends. All three actresses bounce with excitement, fizzing with glittery energy. They’re only too thrilled to grant Ella’s wish for 24 hours.

Despite an interesting premise, the first act feels a little slow and a too flat, but the second act is much brighter and more enjoyable. However, it is littered with too many convenient plot devices to make this a more thrilling retelling of the story. After many twists and turns and a cute scene, it all ends sweetly, with Ella realising that there’s no better place than home—even when it’s chaotic and imperfect.

Ella is whisked off to King’s Town, just down the road from Rich Mound—a colourful and slightly absurd place with cheese-obsessed mice. Here she meets a truly wicked mother Lady Dungeness (played again by Kara Lily Hayworth) and two outrageously terrible sisters, Snotterella and Grotterella (Hannah Akhalu & Corrina Buchan). Their chemistry is brilliant, and they throw themselves into their grotesque characters with gusto. Their scenes are some of the funniest, helped hugely by their fantastic costumes and makeup.

Then we meet the prince (Joaquim Pedro Valdès), who is under a family curse that prevents him from recognising faces. He can only identify people by their clothes—well, to be precise, by their shoes (Yes, really, just the shoes).

The show celebrates family, friendship of any kind, and the idea that the grass isn’t always greener. And yes, you do leave the theatre smiling.

One more good reason to go: the cast includes only six professional actors, with the rest made up of the Rose Youth Company. On the night I attended, it was the green cast that brings ample energy and enthusiasm to the stage and to demonstrate their talents.

Creatives

Writers: Chris Bush, Roni Neale

Composer: Matt Winkworth

Director: Owen Horsley

Choreographer: Shay Barclay

Set and Costume Designer: Ryan Dawson Laight

Lighting Designer: Bretta Gereke

Sound Designer: Dan Balfour

Puppetry Director: Yvonne Stone

Fight Director: Claire Llewellyn