Cinderella
Everyman, Cork
★★★★☆
The memorable charm of this pantomime from the Everyman and Cork Academy of Dramatic Art relies on two elements of the production: the costumes and the audience. The impact and the engagement of both are immediate as the immersive invitation from the stage meets a lively response from the auditorium.
Traditional in style and scaled to traditional dimensions, the contained spectacle constantly expresses glamour as well as gaiety. Daniel Stones and Caroline Murphy, the production’s costume designer and his assistant, have created a mobile wardrobe of fur and feather dancing through winter settings with traces of mystery and magic.
The agile dance ensemble is sometimes more formation than choreography but achieves a lasting imagery when Cinderella is lifted towards the clock like an Aztec sacrifice.
There is no dark side to this rags-to-riches tale, which strays occasionally from the Charles Perrault version of 1697 in a script for which Ciaran Bermingham and Catherine Mahon-Buckley allow amendments. The wicked stepmother, for example, is replaced by a wicked stepfather, a Baron played without much wickedness by Michael Sands.
This mood of elitist irritation is convincing enough to rouse a small voice from the stalls, however: their persistent “no!” briefly challenges the Baron’s composure; to his credit, Sands regains it.
This impromptu interjection indicates the interaction between stage and patrons. There is a readiness to respond even to the overly emphatic virtue signalling from Fionula Linehan, as Peggy Twomey, whose reminders that kindness is a good thing fall on receptive ears.
In fact it is Linehan’s racy confidence that propels the action. Dressed like a ship in full sail, she delivers an episodic commentary and acts as a signpost to the streets and personalities of localities already established by Olan Wrynn’s set design.
As director, Mahon-Buckley shows too much reliance on video inserts, and it might be thought a mistake that the camera later sends Cinderella careering through the city as if looking for a taxi.
There is no scene without a song in sequences of vitality and imagination, however – and considering that everyone is playing to the converted, there is no drift in performance: Leah Barniville’s Cinderella sings with a gallant pathos, Graham McDermott-Wood gives his Dandini every possible flourish of flounce and feather before his final departure with Andrew Lane’s Buttons, Zach O’Brien is a handsome and tuneful Prince Charming, and the emphatic band is led by Anth Kaley.
After all the fun and laughter the crucial features arrive: the Fairy Godmother waves her wand, the coach descends, the crystal slippers glisten, the clock looms inexorably above the lovers.
While these transformative aspects appear in an atmosphere of silence and wonder, the finale erupts in the customary competitive singalong when ranks of ecstatic children surge to their feet in full voice and thrilled with their synchronised actions.
No shade here of the late singer Billy Brown, who fell in love with Cinderella, but the lasting delight of this pantomime may be that these youngsters have fallen in love with her too.
Cinderella is at the Everyman, Cork, until Sunday, January 11th, 2026
