Theatre
Cinderella,
Manoel Theatre

Fairy tales are meant to carry a moralistic message packaged in a way that is comprehensible to children. A Christmas pantomime usually uses the basic plot of a fairy tale and adds humour and song to make it into a fun family-friendly spectacle. From an adult’s perspective, the moral I grasped clearly after watching FM Productions’ version of Cinderella at the Manoel Theatre last week was that a panto at our oldest Baroque theatre must be in keeping with the tradition and grandeur of its setting: a goal which was certainly achieved by this particular production.

Cinderella contained all the traditional elements of panto and this, coupled with very high production standards, is what made it work well. With Jo Caruana playing the sweet-natured Cinderella to Chiara Hyzler’s amnesic Prince Charming, the princess and female principal boy were portrayed quite well, although some of their song interpretations needed a touch more conviction. The traditional plot for Cinderella also required a loveable man-servant called Buttons, portrayed by Steve Hili, who does all he can humanly do to help poor Cinders and usually becomes the fairy’s sidekick, landing in all sorts of trouble to ensure a happy ending. This panto had Rachel Darmanin Demajo as Fairy Gaga, a rather ditsy but well-meaning fairy who sends Cinderella to the ball in an enchanting scene, with a shimmering fairy-lit carriage against a starry sky, involving ballet-inspired dance moves by her little fairy helpers, students at Stagecoach, who also appeared in the forest scene where Cinders sings to the wildlife. Emma Loftus’s choreography in the transformation scene was simple and effective, while the energetic ensemble dance numbers made good use of the theatre space, not just on stage but also the aisles and occasionally the boxes.

One of the elements I like the most about Cinderella as a panto is that you get two dames instead of one – in the guise of the Ugly Sisters, whose cheeky banter peppered with innuendo revolves around everything from each others’ love lives to the audience and the political situation. This year the roles of these two larger-than-life ladies were entrusted to Edward Mercieca as Fallina Blafloos and Toni Attard as her sister, Hallina Blafloos. Mr Mercieca and Mr Attard were equally funny as bitchy sisters who are not only nasty to Cinders but are also merciless towards each other if they have to – in a send-up of the typical frenemies. Their parents, Baron Blafloos, played by Terry Shaw, Cinderella’s well-meaning but hen-pecked father, and Denise Mulholland as Baroness Blafloos, her uptight, social-climber of a stepmother, were perfect for the roles. Ms Mulholland made nasty fun, especially with her imperious ways and outrageous hair-dos, which, together with the Ugly Sisters’ incredible costumes, in the hands of designer Louie’ Noire, made it feel just like panto all on their own.

The baddie was played with evil enough laughs, by the mysterious Larry Ponzing, who I realised, had left the comfort of his Cavalier to play The Duke, intent on keeping his tyrannous regency over the land while the Prince is away, and comes up with a plan to replace the Prince, whom his minions have knocked unconscious, with his naïve nephew Archie, played by David Ellul Mercer. The Prince suffers from memory loss and is befriended by the gentle Cinderella and offered a job in her household after Buttons quits. Mr Mercer gave the goofy Archie an innocent vibe which actually went well with Luke Mercieca and Bettina Paris’s downtrodden minions, Kallu and Veruka, who cannot really stand the Duke and work for him only because they are forced to. Mr Mercieca and Ms Paris’s energy was undeniable and it was quite clear that they were fully enjoying the comic possibilities which their roles allowed. Indeed, the chase scene in the Blafoos residence towards the end of the show, where everybody is looking for everybody else and which involves the entire cast running in and out of doors, fireplaces and wardrobes all over the place was good fun to watch.

This is where Buttons, who with the help of the Fairy, is on a mission to reveal the Prince’s true identity to his unsuspecting subjects and to the Blafloos family, is cashed by Andrea Grech’s Urk, the Jailor, who makes wild unintelligible sounds and scares the bejeezus out of everyone, while Paula Fleri-Soler’s Major Domo, keeps misplacing the glass slipper and the rest get caught up in the crazy mayhem. Ray Farrugia’s set design proved to be ideal for this sort scene, accompanied by musical director, Kris Spiteri’s band. Audience participation in the traditional song-sheet was a good laugh because it pitted men against women singing That’s Amore! I found, however, that the script itself, though in-keeping with the best ideals of panto, lacked the more adult comedic quality that would have kept the parents in the audience satisfied. It relied on gags like slapstick and chases, confused identities and action rather than stronger verbal sparring. Director Edward Mercieca, a panto veteran, has produced a glitzy show with sumptuous costumes and highly-disciplined well-executed routines which appealed to a younger audience and went down extremely well with them. Panto is, after all, for the children and this one certainly put joy on their faces.