Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the all the festive fun. When it’s cold outside, communities come and gather inside to watch much-loved fairy tales and folk stories re-imagined with modern twists, pop songs aplenty and the grand tradition of the Panto Dame. This year, Pontypridd Theatre Company brought everyone’s favourite fairytale story, Cinderella to delighted audiences in the ‘Taff’s Well Village Hall’.
The Village Hall is a wonderful, family friendly venue, situated in the centre of the village. Those that attended the four day event enjoyed a tale laced with laughter and love; plus the ugliest sisters you’ll ever be likely to meet.
Ticking all the boxes for being the best in Pantos, this is a Cinderella performance like no other! Taking the audience on a delightful journey of escapism and fun, we join determined but downtrodden Cinderella, (Caitlin Woodland) and her loyal best friend Buttons, (Kian Withey) in the magical Land of make believe. The likeable but hapless Prince Charming has come back home and is in search of a wife, with the evil villain Dandina devilishly hoping to be the chosen one and the next Queen!
Directed by Liam Daly, Cinderella is a show which shines from beginning to end. The wonderful cast deliver on all fronts from start to finish and it really stands out that they work so hard as one big team, with plenty of chances for everyone to show off their many admirable talents.
Buttons bemoans that he has only one friend in the world, Prince Charming frets over his future. And at Hardup Hall, Chardonnay and Portia are making Cinderella’s life a misery. Liam Daly and Andrew Nancholas are the best ugly sisters you’ll ever have the misfortune to encounter, and worth every boo and hiss that the audience has to give them. Poor old ‘Ella! All she knows is domestic drudgery, day in, day out…but this day is different, this day is special and when this day is done, nothing will ever be the same again.
The cast was absolutely brilliant and what great voices! I didn’t expect to hear a Queen classic. It is very well scripted, the stage set was fine for a small production and the children (St Michael’s Primary and Fynnon Taf Primary) really enjoyed themselves and they loved the fact that the all the cast worked incredibly hard to involve the audience in true Panto style.
A special mention has to go to Caitlin Woodland as Cinderella, Ieuan Mathews as Prince Charming, Taylor Deen Jenkins as Dandini, Stephen Christian-Noonan as Baron Hard-up and of course Kian Whithey, who had the audience eating out of his hand. They all take to their roles with such fun, skill and professionalism, with Caitlin in particular having the most amazing singing voice, Ieuan showing an incredible comedy touch to the daft as a brush Prince, and Stephen superbly naive to the happenings around him. No Pontypridd Theatre Company production would be complete without the presence of Leonitia Walters. She was back at her best as Lady Hardup, this production needed her dash of valley humour, it was mayhem at it’s best.
The bad weather didn’t seem to deter people from having some fun family time, as the hall was almost sold out over the four day period. I sat at the rear of the hall and watched each performance in turn. The last show was a Sunday matinee and, as always with live performances they get better day after day. This once again proved to be the case and the last performance was a joy to behold. And I for one can’t wait for next year’s production.