REVIEW | Tinderella, Union Theatre
Written by Russell
Disclaimer: We were invited to watch this performance in return for an honest review.
The Union Theatre is the perfect venue for this adult pantomime. Tucked away under the arches on Union Street. A buzzing venue, with a great atmosphere, it’s a proper independent theatre. Places like the Union need to be cherished and nurtured. The bar and restaurant have a unique style and feel to them and I would recommend you pop along to see a little bit of independent theatre fun.
Tinderella is an adult pantomime. And some adults will love what they have done here. The warnings are clear, ‘leave the kids at home’ and ‘may NOT be politically correct’. I hated pantomimes when I was a kid and I hated taking my kids to pantomimes when they were young. So, I'll be honest with you, I was sort of dreading this “adult” pantomime.
But, and it's a big butt, it’s actually good fun. It’s camp and a bit 16-year-old-schoolboy-dirty, rather than grown-up-dirty. No original laughs or jokes in there, but to be fair, that's probably not what they were going for. I mean, it is what it is.
It’s Cinderella, it’s a pantomime. As you enter the theatre you are given glow-sticks, possibly the fakest of all the fake-fun props, I’d put them just slightly in front of ‘party-poppers’ and ‘party-blowers’ (Oooh blowers, sounds a bit rude!) which presumably means this a ‘party night’.
There are a few moments of genuine uproar and lots of fun to be had in between those moments. It’s got all the classic pantomime tropes, with the audience participation brutally shoe-horned in, with a few good singalong panto-songs, with a ‘bawdy’ version of Leonard Cohen's ‘Hallelujah’, which will have the legendary Mr Cohen considering suing from beyond the grave, and with a closing number that goes on longer than Oppenheimer.
But that’s all just a little bit churlish. It’s a pantomime and most people in the room seem to be having a great time. Which is what the whole thing is about. One of the downsides to this production was there people spoke loudly through it, meaning it was distracting as you can imagine when trying to watch a performance.
That aside, it’s worth going to see Tinderella just for the performance of Laura Mead who plays Ella. Without trying, she completely steals the show. Looking a little like a young Helen Mirren, Laura is undoubtedly going to be a big star in the not-to-distant-future. It's her natural comedy timing, her comedy chops, something you can’t comedy teach and she's got them in comedy bundles. She’s also princess-pretty, and what a great voice, she’s got talent squeezing out of every pore of her being.
Everyone else in the cast does a great job. The Ugly Sisters (Edward Denby and Alan Kelly)
And with Buttons (Joshua David) looking perilously like a young Gary Barlow, and some might say ‘Panto’ is possibly what Gary’s true destiny was until he wrote a couple of half-decent songs and bumped into the other ‘TakeThat’ boys.
The Evil Witch (Monty Camisa- Bundy) also deserves a mention. She plays her part beautifully and milks the audience for all she’s worth.
It’s energised, it’s flamboyant, and hits its target audience bang on the nose.
But just one genuine disappointment is, really, Gary Glitter? Even if it is only a tiny snippet of one of his songs, Gary Glitter, really guys? You’re better than that.
At Union Theatre until 23 December 2023
