I always try to get inside the head of the director when watching any live performance. What do they want the audience to feel? To take away with them? What message are they trying to convey?
I have watched many different versions of this fairy tale including the Disney film released in 1950, the 1976 musical, ‘The Slipper and The Rose’ starring Richard Chamberlain and Gemma Craven, the 2015 film directed by Kenneth Branagh featuring Lily James as Ella and Richard Madden as The Prince as well as pantomimes but I have never watched the ballet.
This production of Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet showcases exquisite choreography by Sir David Bintley.
The musical score is full of romance, but is also melancholic at times and really brings to life the different emotions and personalities in the story.
What struck me whilst I was watching the drama unfold was the sets are very stripped back.
Apart from the cellar featuring a large grey stone fireplace and massive wooden cupboard, the magic of the story comes to life through the dancing with hints of where the action is set.
For example, a huge rectangular mirror is the only piece of furniture on stage when Cinderella is being dressed by the adorable lizards, frog and mice.
The stage is then dominated by the crystal carriage made of entwined branches and leaves set against the dark blue starlit sky. Instead of the ornate interior of a palace it is illustrated by a stone staircase flanked either side by two stone entrance pillars.
This gave a similar coldness and throwback to the cellar and I couldn’t help thinking that the palace ballroom could have been depicted instead by a beautiful chandelier and more warm surroundings to indicate a change in Cinderella’s fate.
A real stand out moment for me was when the clock approached midnight.
As it starts chiming it pulls apart to reveal its inner workings, giving a really powerful hint that the magic is soon to come to an end and Cinderella will once again be plunged back into her life of servitude to her stepmother and petulant stepsisters.
There are many references to nature throughout. When the fairy spirit of Cinderella’s mother arrives, mist engulfs the stage and the three sections making up the cellar reveal an evening sky dazzling with stars.
The four seasons are also represented by ballerinas wearing green, gold, burgundy or silver and the corps de ballet look beautiful dressed in white tutus decorated in silver stars and adorning silver tiaras.
They dance as the pumpkin turns into the carriage and again with the Prince and Cinderella - perhaps hinting that our lives are written in the stars.
The costumes designed by John Macfarlane, who also designed the sets, are sumptuous and theatrical and give a real 18th century feel but also hint towards Vivienne Westwood’s style.
The dressers look elegant in their tail coats and wigs and the hugely talented Tzu-Chao Chou as the dancing master makes a huge impact dressed in red velvet.
The ugly step sisters were dressed in short dresses - one in yellow and the other in black with Madonna cone basque complete with black and white tights.
I am always amazed how a story can be told through dance and gestures alone. The characterisation throughout was impeccable by all the company.
Particular mention must go to the two step sisters for bringing so much humour to the stage with their constant quarreling and fighting as well as flirting with one of the dressers and footmen and their love of food!
I also adored the depiction of the dancers who played the frog, lizards and the mice. They were a delight to watch and they were so convincing you could almost believe they were real!
There is a jaw dropping moment when Mathias Dingman who plays the Prince so incredibly lifts Miki Mizutani holding her calf and waist. It’s almost a Patrick Swayze moment but I should imagine even more technically difficult!
All in all, a truly enjoyable evening and I drifted away watching the sheer beauty of these dancers on stage.
The audience whistled and cheered at the end of each act as well as at the end and also showed their huge appreciation to the fabulous Royal Ballet Sinfonia under the direction of Paul Murphy.
Book your seats here Mayflower Theatre
