Cinderella – Brixton House, London

Writer: Danusia Samal

Director: Ola Ince

Composer: Duramaney Kamara

Cinderella is a misnomer. This Brixton House production is that of Sindi-Ella, ‘Brixton born and bred’ whose father has just died leaving her stepmother, Steph, with no savings and having to move south and run the family grocers on Brixton Lane. Ella’s stepsister, Tia an online influencer with 20k followers on ‘Flip Flop’, is desperate for the family to return to West London, she is far too bougie for Brixton.

Ella is bullied at school and her idea to ethically grow local vegetables is merely mocked until, after fighting back, she gets detention where she meets Charles, who Ella, not being on social media, does not know is Charmz, Brixton’s biggest online influencer. He is also an AI mogul whose company is trying to buy up all the local shops on Brixton Lane to build a Mega Mall.

No Buttons as narrator here; instead, the story is helped along by Ella’s delphinium, Dephy who imbibes the spirit of her late father, Amir, (Ray Emmet Brown in a plant costume), to whom Ella confides. No match for traditional ugly sisters’ costumes though, and a dying plant isn’t quite so fun.

Sparks fly and Charmz asks her to the party which coincides with Ella’s ethical rebrand of her local shop. Can Ella get to the party to see Charles again? Can the family business be saved? Can Charmz get a life off-line and the human interaction he so craves?

The two leads in this production, Yanexi Enriquez as Ella, and Alex Thomas-Smith as Charmz, are perfect in these roles. Both have a good range and power without being overpowerful, which is a credit to the sound team as this isn’t the biggest of theatres for a musical. They come across as adorably sweet and the audience collectively lets out a loud ‘aw’ as they awkwardly exchange numbers. They have real chemistry.

Jesse Bateson too is perfect for her role as Tia, with great characterization. It’s obvious she is the evil step-sister and has a great vocal range that rather overshadows that of her mother played by Julene Robinson.

It is great to see a cast and a storyline that reflects Brixton without trying too hard, effortlessly multicultural. The themes are relevant to the area and the young, issues such as gentrification, or ‘colonisation’ as Ella hisses, which makes the audience gasp. There’s thought to how influencers should use their platforms and how quick people are to anger and become tribal. These are handled in an empathetic way. Indeed, all comes good and the anger is dampened when each side actually listens to the other.

As a Brixton musical, this really works and there are some catchy dance and rap numbers. The audience is invited to sing and dance along but without lyrics and in these slim seats, sadly barely possible. Audience participation does naturally increase, especially in the second half, with people clapping along and with obvious enjoyment but there could be so much more. The audience is genuinely behind the performers but doesn’t get enough chances to interact. ‘Behind you’ shouts a single audience member when a character asks where another is. The audience laughs but at the lack of these known exchanges rather than at the script.

On press night there are fewer children than presumably are expected on other nights but there is not enough to entertain them and there is plenty of looking about, eating crisps and even a loud, ‘What’s going on, mummy?’. Fundamentally this is not a pantomime. The elements of a pantomime that generations of young kids and parents fondly remember from their own childhood Christmas are missing. A sadder Disneyfication of Christmas.

Despite a good running joke about Charmz misremembering Tia’s name, there could have been so much more joy to be had. Musicals can run twelve months of the year, and what’s magical for children at Christmas is a cleverly written interactive pantomime. This isn’t…..

As a musical though, this is a fun night out for a young, or young at heart, adult Brixton audience.

Runs until 31 December 2023