Brighton Year-Round 2024
The Glass Slippers
Tutti Frutti
Genre: Adaptation, Children's Theatre, Musical Theatre
Venue: Brighton Dome Studio Theatre
Festival: Brighton Year-Round
Low Down
Cinderella’s royal makeover is given a right royal makeover in Tutti Frutti’s triumphantly radical adaptation of the classic tale.
Review
The show starts with a nice bit of historical context: the story of Cinderella has been told across the entire world, in thousands of different versions, “and belongs to everyone, but today, it’s my story”. In other words, there is no definitive version, so put your pre-conceived Disneyfied notions to one side because we are gonna mess with this one good and proper.
I’ve seen “modernisations” that fall woefully short, including one particular folk tale adaptation where the director stated in the programme how progressive he thought it was to put the heroine in a pair of glasses. Here, I’m delighted to say that not only have the company gone the whole hog, and re-examined every single aspect of the story through a 2024 lens, but several of their alterations are actually significant improvements upon the popularised version. For example, are we supposed to just accept that a pair of shoes only fits one wearer? Explained. And where did the pumpkin come into it all of a sudden? Also explained.
The main moral theme of the show is screen time, and the phenomenon of influencers and YouTubers (though neither of these words is used). We had a discussion afterwards about one seeming lack of clarity in the messaging around this: on the one hand, screen time is clearly shown in a negative light, and on the other hand, all the positive ‘magic’ within the story emanates from screens. So maybe screens aren’t so bad after all…? We concluded that this probably had been thought through, and that the ultimate message is one of moderation, not abstinence. You could then legitimately discuss whether the subtleties of this argument will be sufficiently readable by the younger audience members, and whether we really need screens to be depicted positively at all, but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. At least screen time is being addressed in an original, thought-provoking, humorous way.
All characters are rendered significantly more three-dimensional and nuanced than the incarnations that have become stock characters, and in this regard I think the increased complexity is pitched just right. Neither the stepmother nor the stepsisters are painted as “baddies”, they just have their preoccupations, and deep down they genuinely care about Cinderella. The Prince comes across badly until we get to know him, and realise that his gregarious, obnoxious public persona is at odds with the lonely, play-starved boy behind the bling. Cinderella herself is given a whopping, heart-wrenching backstory (in which the theme of grief is not shied away from, but is delicately and expertly handled). The only character who never quite pops out from two-dimensionality is the Prince’s pushy mum. Again I’ll let them off.
You may be reading this thinking it sounds like a show with a cast of at least ten, maybe twenty. But no, extraordinarily there are only three of them onstage, and all the actors are just brilliant. The absolute stand-out is Hope Yolanda as Cinderella, who maintains a wonderfully warm rapport with the young audience, and her singing is just sensational. She is expertly supported by Jazz Harbour, who plays about six characters, and Matthew Nicholson, who plays about six more – both of them highly skilled physical performers with a range and wit that befits the demands made on them by the script’s quick-character-change format. The directing is extremely slick, with every transition fluently executed, no dead moments, and a well-honed complicity between performers.
The songs are great too. Composer Christella Litras has gone for a considerably more varied contemporary musical landscape than the ‘children’s musical vibe’ you might be expecting, with lots of catchy numbers in a range of pop genres.
I think the show would have benefitted from a touch more interactivity. At no moment were any questions opened up to the audience, nor was any help requested from audience members, such as holding props or even singing along. There were plenty of such opportunities, for example during a sequence where the Prince was struggling to come up with rhymes for an advertising jingle he was composing and it almost felt like he was going to ask for our help. This is the only aspect in which I felt the show played a touch safe, by not wishing to leave anything to randomness, in what was otherwise a deliciously edgy production.
It’s advertised as 3+. My five-year-old and my seven-year-old both loved it. A friend who I attended with said she regretted convincing her twelve-year-old not to come, since a lot of the broader themes are very appropriate for that age group. The show’s aesthetics and general atmos are aimed young, while its thematics are aimed older. And many of the audience’s outbursts of belly-laughter came from the parents. It’s rare for a show to succeed in having genuine appeal to such a wide age range.
Tutti Frutti’s The Glass Slippers is a bold, imaginative reworking of the classic tale, packed with charm, humour and heart. With its clever script, standout performances, and a contemporary score that sticks with you long after the curtain falls, this production is a triumph for audiences of all ages. It challenges expectations while delivering plenty of laughs and poignant moments, all wrapped in a sleek, expertly directed package. A must-see for families and anyone who loves a fresh take on a timeless story.