Expect a few surprises in Princess Theatre's magical Cinderella pantomime mix

REVIEW: Cinderella, Princess Theatre, Torquay

Crazy capers and panto puns with a generous sprinkling of festive magic... this year’s Christmas production at the Princess Theatre was so good it literally brought the house down – scenery and all!

With plenty of “oh, no it isn’t, oh, yes it is!” and “it’s behind you!”, this traditional tried-and-tested format never dates and the children simply lap it up.

Carl Johns, as Buttons, certainly kept up the pace with endearing lovable, clumsiness.

His appearance and antics were uncannily like a certain well-known politician, so much so that the audience were shouting “Boris” instead of Buttons!

There were loud hisses and boos for those atrocious ugly sisters, played with gusto by Paul Lawrence-Thomas and Nathan Kiley, who sported some outrageous costumes and lots of cheers for the most magical fairy godmother (Katie Lynch) who not only brought her spells to life with some clever lighting effects, but had an extremely beautiful singing voice to boot.

Celebrity star Jeremy Edwards, from TV’s Hollyoaks, brought chuckles as the cheeky Dandini opposite a suitably dashing Prince Charming (Jordan Adams).

Sweet Cinders (Shakira Rattray) injected the essential sugary goodness into the mix in strong contrast to a rather elegant and beautiful wicked baroness stepmother (Paula Tappenden).

The magical pantomime mixture continued with live music, beautiful dance choreographies and plenty of slapstick humour. Of course, love conquers all and “good over evil” wins every time!

Expect a few surprises including real ponies on stage!

Cinderella continues at the Princess Theatre in Torquay until Sunday, January 2. For tickets contact 0844 871 7615 or visit ATGtickets.com/torquay