With over 200 fabulous costumes, a cast of more than 90 dancers, a spectacular live orchestra powering through Prokofiev’s glistening score and lavish moving sets, Christopher Wheeldon’s sparkle and comedy-filled gambol through the classic fairytale is entertainment in its purest form.
I don’t need to explain the plot of this ballet to you: there are buffooning step sisters, a machiavellian stepmother, a bumbling father, a handsome prince, magical fairies, and of course Cinderella.
Wheeldon, the choreographer, does change it up a little bit. He does away with pumpkins and the Fairy Godmother, and instead Cinders is guided by four mysterious silver-faced Fates, clad in marvellous floor-length midnight blue lace jackets. With their severe choreography, performing Martha Graham-esque deep pliés and strong leaps, these stern characters bring a depth and groundedness to the otherwise unabashedly frivolous show.
Wheeldon really leans into the spectacle with this one. In Cinderella’s transformation from rags to riches the audience is treated to a wild visual bonanza featuring a kaleidoscope of colourful fairies, alongside some peculiar and fantastical creatures. We meet bizarre bird-headed ladies, funny ogre-like creatures who knock their giant heads together, and odd beings that look like a cross between a Venus flytrap and a conker, stalking down the aisles with long, spindly fingers. The transformation culminates with a goosebump-inducing rainbow-coloured whirlpool of dancers, with Cinderella in the centre, rising like a phoenix in a glittering gold dress.
The magic is amped up even more with Julian Crouch’s wonderful set design, alongside Daniel Brodie’s projections. There’s a lovely moment when green umbrellas are used to represent a sprouting tree, and inventive use of simple white cloths, which become angel wings, a billowing carriage or make up an impressive big ever-growing and changing tree.
We are also served actually funny sub-plots – a rare thing for a classical ballet – like one stepsister having an orgy with four footmen, or the Prince’s friend Benjamin (the terrifically bouncy Ken Saruhashi) striking up an adorable romance with the kinder sister, played by Katja Khaniukova.
With the enormous cast, countless costumes and grand setting, Cinderella herself is actually the least interesting part of this production. Erina Takahashi gives a sweet and technically tight performance in the central role, but the larger-than-life personas of other characters – notably the stepsisters and stepmother – triumphed. Sarah Kundi gives a thrillingly entertaining performance as the wicked, and wickedly funny, Stepmother Hortensia.
Careening around the stage like a drunk, or stomping around at home, it’s hard to tear your eyes away from Kundi despite the fact that there might be approximately 50 other things happening on stage at the same time.
If the production has any shortcomings, it’s that sometimes in the grandiose swirl of the dancers small plot details, like the stepmother casting Cinderella’s shoe into the fire, were lost. But the scale and magic of the show made up for this. After all, everyone knows the story anyway.
This ‘Cinderella’ is charming in every sense, and this show has got all you might want for a brilliant, jeopardy-free night at the theatre: beautiful dancing, lavish costumes, extravagant sets, and a happy ending. ‘Cinderella’ in-the-round is not challenging, stressful, or anything in between, it’s just pure fun. I’m confident ballet novices and seasoned connoisseurs alike will be able to sit back, relax and indulge in the sheer joy of this fabulous production.
