REVIEW: CINDERELLA @ THEATRE ROYAL PLYMOUTH

🎭 Cinderella

📍 The Lyric, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Royal Parade, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 2TR 

🗓 Wednesday 9th April 2025

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BEAUTIFULLY ELEGANT

Birmingham Royal Ballet makes a triumphant return to Theatre Royal Plymouth this week with Sir David Bintley's CINDERELLA. This classic fairytale is given new life in this wonderful adaptation which is a thing of beauty.

One thing that this company excel at is storytelling, and this production is no exception to this. The story is told in a succinct way that is easy to follow and engages the audience. I genuinely wasn't expecting the piece to be as funny as it was but Rosanna Ely and Tessa Hodge as Cinderella's Stepsisters were gloriously comedic and their performances broke up the story wonderfully and were always met with joy and laughter from the audience.

As the titular Cinderella, Yu Kurihara was absolutely breathtaking. She exuded grace and elegance throughout her performance and commanded the stage. Her performance alone is worth the ticket price. What a privilege it is to witness this level of talent.

Other standout performances came from Lachlan Monaghan as The Prince, Daria Stanciulescu as Cinderella's Stepmother and Isabella Howard as The Fairy Godmother, but there was not one weak link on the stage and no matter what part was being played, the intricacy and depth from all the dancers was a sheer delight.

The music was performed by a live orchestra, which always feels like such an integral part of any ballet. Conducted by Charlotte Politi, the score fit the storyline perfectly and was so vivid and charismatic in itself that it was as if it would match an epic blockbuster movie.

Most of the set design in CINDERELLA is grand and impressive. I especially liked the somewhat ramshakled kitchen in which the heroine carries out her chores, and the way it came apart to reveal more of the stage, thus carrying the story forward. I also adored the scene at the end of the ball with the clock and the cogs. Some truly masterful and clever set design.

Unfortunately the set for the ball scene itself left me very underwhelmed. Rather bland and boring, it somehow didn't match the rest of the production. I expected an impressive staircase for the characters to enter on but instead there was just a few steps at the back of the stage. Also some of the scene changes seemed clunky, especially during Act 3.

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, and would watch it again, I felt that Act 2 was too long. The individual performances throughout were world class but in my opinion it could have done with being maybe 10 minutes shorter.

These few negatives aside, there is no denying how good this production is overall. CINDERELLA continues performances in Plymouth until Saturday 12th April. Click here for tickets.

Birmingham Royal Ballet will be back at Theatre Royal Plymouth in October 2025 with the return of Black Sabbath - The Ballet and again in March 2026 with Don Quixote. Tickets for both productions are on sale now on the TRP website.

Neill Kovacic-Clarke

All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair, and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one person.

My ticket for this performance of Cinderella was gifted by the Theatre Royal Plymouth who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.

CAST LIST:

Yu Kurihara as Cinderella; Lachlan Monaghan as The Prince; Rosanna Ely and Tessa Hodge as Cinderella's Stepsisters; Daria Stanciulescu as Cinderella's Stepmother; Isabella Howard as The Fairy Godmother; Miki Mizutani as Spring; Yuki Sugiura as Summer; Amelia Thompson as Autumn; Rachele Pizzillo as Winter; Gus Payne as Dancing Master; Jack Easton as Dressmaker; Louise Andreasen as Hairdresser; Shuailun Wu as Wigmaker; Tom Hazelby as Frog Coachman; Ixan Llorca Ferrer and Marlo Kempsey-Fagg as Lizard Footmen; Gus Payne, Oscar Kempsey-Fagg, Shuailun Wu and Javier Rojas as The Prince's Friends; Rory Mackay as Major Domo; Isabelle Nygyen and Betsy Ridley as Mice Pages; Artists of the Company as Dressmaker's Assistants, Stars, Ladies, Cavaliers and Waiters; Philip Aird and Robert Simmons as Onstage Violinists

Featuring The Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Conducted by Charlotte Politi

RUNNING TIME (approx):

2 hours 45 minutes, including two intervals