Showing @ Summerhall, Edinburgh until Sun 25 Aug (not 19) @ 15:45
There are three separate companies presenting five different children’s shows in the yurt at Summerhall, but you’d be hard pressed to find another children’s show in any venue that could top this collaboration between theatre company Factory Compagnia Transadriatica and dance company Elektra.
It is impossible to fault this production. From the detailed costumes to the quirky music, the inventive set to the pitch-perfect performances, it is all absolutely spot on. Clowning blends seamlessly with dance and the jokes have parents laughing out loud alongside their children.
But this Cinderella goes one step further – with some clever stylistic choices, it becomes surprisingly subversive, almost a burlesque on the original fairy tale. The vain sisters as puppets of the controlling stepmother, the puffery of their beauty rituals and the last ditch attempt at charm school, all poke fun at the familiar formula. Best of all though are the main characters: Cinderella is not glamorous and this prince is not charming. Rather they are both shy outcasts drawn together by their social awkwardness. With this one deft touch, the story is reinvented. Not that the children will notice, they will be having far too much fun.