Review

Cinderella

Newport Riverfront

A packed Riverfront clearly loved this revival of Darius James and Amy Doughty’s nicely dark retelling of the Cinderella story.

The enjoyment came from not only the artistry of new and established Ballet Cymru dancers but also the aerial skills garnered by working with Citrus Arts and the delightful revisited score from Jack White.

Steve Denton’s costume and set designs and Chris Illingworth’s lighting, which includes video and graphics, are also vital elements of this story which returns to some of the gruesomeness of the Grimm story.

As we have step sister and step brother, (James Parratt and Maria Teresa Brunello) rather than the traditional panto ugly sisters, it takes a scene or two to quite work out who is who but once the Bird (as in fairy godmother) appears, all slips into place smoother than Cinderella’s ballet slipper.

With the Newport-based company’s commitment to adding Welsh flavour to their work, the young prince is called Madoc and his best mate Maldwyn, roles taken by the strong Robbie Moorcroft and a sprightly Miguel Fernandes.

Cinderella is an enchanting characterisation danced by Beth Medway and the frisky spell-weaving Bird is danced by the lovely Krystal Lowe. Eka Mastrangelo is the deliciously sinister stepmother and Daniel Morrison the ineffectual father. The score is played by Beth Linton, Caryl Stone and Rachel Waters.

Mike Smith