Cinderella

St George’s Theatre

Great Yarmouth

There is a lovely intimacy and closeness at the beautiful St George’s Theatre that you really don’t get at too many other venues.

It is a place where the fourth wall can be well and truly broken. And while being squirted by a water pistol played havoc with my mascara it was a small price to pay.

The rapport, once it gets going, (and it did take a while) is lovely and it is worth bearing with some of the earlier misfires as the audience warms up.

There is no messing with the traditional formula of Cinderella, a fairytale favourite, and we are on solid panto ground with all the boo/hiss and “it’s behind you” that anyone would expect

Emma Holt as Cinderella is suitably lovely, down-trodden and demure and has a pretty singing voice.

Ashley Bovington (last year’s genie in Aladdin) is Buttons, stitching the show together he soon has the audience eating out of his hand (Big Up Buttons!).

The money-grabbing ugly sisters are outlandish and grotesque in equal measure, one of them making their debut on stage in a stick-of-rock frock - the first of a vast wardrobe of ever more extravagant dresses.

Clare Durrant sparkles and shines as the fairy godmother and the adorable Nabjab dancers swell the small cast. There are lots of songs, some from the world of pop and one from Frozen, but not that one.

And like the sticky seaside sweet this is Yarmouth all the way through with Palmers, Vauxhall Holiday Park and Peter Jay among those getting a nod.

I’m not sure if a lot went wrong the night we were there or if they were skilfully scripted mishaps - probably a bit of both. But there was some fluffing of lines that only added to the hilarity. There are lots of gags, not all of them good, but hey that’s panto.

It is very much a play rooted in Great Yarmouth with in-jokes about the town which was fun.

The transformation scene is a surprise and the choice of transport is inspired (I won’t give the game away, but it bought the house down).

This is the third panto at St George’s since it underwent its own fairytale transformation establishing itself as a festive favourite.

Hopefully it is a tradition that will continue for a long time - well at least until Yarmouth gets a Primark which even according to the cast on stage won’t be any day soon! Super family fun.

The panto runs until January 10. To book call the box office on 01493 331484 or visit www.stgeorgestheatre.com.

Liz Coates