Reviews 2012
Reviews 2012
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by Mike Kenny, directed by Allen MacInnis
Young People’s Theatre, Toronto
November 15-December 30, 2012
“‘RATical but Not ‘Radical’”
Young People’s Theatre is currently presenting the North American premiere of Cinderella (a RATical retelling) by British playwright Mike Kenny. Kenny is the author of the stage version of The Railway Children that played Toronto last summer featuring a real steam locomotive. Kenny’s Cinderella is not so grandiose. Indeed, it’s charm is its very simplicity. Kenny’s new angle on the age-old fairy tale to tell it from the point of view of the rats who inhabit the kitchen with Cinders. Kenny’s stated goal was to create a version of the story that is not “irretrievably pink”, i.e. one that would appeal as much to boys as to girls. Whether he actually accomplishes this is debatable since even if the story is told by rats it still focusses on Cinderella, her mother, her stepmother and stepsisters with Prince Charming as her only way of escape from a life of drudgery. I’m afraid Kenny’s version is just as “pink” as the others except for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical of 1957 that, unlike this, also focusses on the problems that Prince Charming has at home with his parents, and thus balances Cinderella’s backstory with his.
When the show begin we first meet the five kitchen rats – Whiskers (Dmitry Chepovetsky), Tail (DeAnn deGruijter), Teeth (Élodie Gillett), Claws (Amy Lee) and Ears (Richard Lee) – who are bemoaning the loss of their best friend, Cinderella (Steffi DiDomenicantonio), who has now married the Prince (Matthew G. Brown) and gone off to live in the palace. They then proceed to tell us Cinderella’s story from the very beginning, with various of them taking other roles, to explain why they are in their present forlorn situation.
As it turns out, having the rats tell the story makes no great difference to the story itself. What does make a difference is that Kenny takes us back farther in the story than do most versions. He has the rats begin by depicting the happy time in Cinders’ life when both her parents were alive. Both her parents encourage her to enjoy life and her father teaches her how to dance. After her mother dies her father marries a woman who already has two daughters, called here This’n and That’n. All is well as long as Cinders’ father is alive, but after he dies, the stepmother and the two stepsisters begin treating Cinders badly and make her a servant in her own house. This is when the rats welcome Cinders, who has now even forgotten her real name, into their group. The rats are used to being the lowest of the low as their song “Nobody Wants to Be a Rat” (the best song in the show) tells us. But Cinders is so depressed by her ill treatment that her constant refrain is “I am nobody. I am nothing”.
Besides giving us more information about Cinders’ background, Kenny’s adaptation is unusual in doing away with the magical fairy godmother. Here Cinders looks to her dead mother for help and advice. Director Allen MacInnis has the lovely notion that when Cinders’ mother speaks to her leaves from her mother’s favourite tree fall gently to the ground in a pool of light. The young children in attendance oohed and aahed whenever this effect occurred. When Cinders goes to the ball, she does not wear a magically conjured dress, but rather a ball gown of her mother’s that she has saved. The loss of the magic interestingly does not diminish the story but instead makes it more poignant and personal.
A further advantage to Kenny’s version is that Cinders does not attend the ball hoping to win a husband, but simply to have one night free of drudgery. We saw how her parents encouraged her to dance. Now she finally has the chance to do so. As it happens, This’n and That’n haven’t a clue how to dance as Gillett and Amy Lee hilariously demonstrate. A confusing point arises at the ball. The Prince claims not to know how to dance and Cinders offers to teach him the way her father taught her. But then the next moment the Prince is leading everyone at the ball in a dance – rather a lapse in Kenny’s storytelling.
The young children don’t mind because this portion was the most popular of the show. The Prince’s dancing primarily involved his arms and hands, often in Bollywood -style movements, and somehow the agile Matthew G. Brown managed to signal to the audience that they should all join in – which they did with great enthusiasm. In fact, the kids had such a great time initiating Brown’s moves, whether sitting or standing, that it would have been good to end the show celebrating the reunion of Cinders and her loyal rattine friends with another mass dance.
The show is recommended for ages 4 and up, but Kenny’s language is so simple and so pared down, that I wouldn’t recommend the show to children in Grade 4 or above. Kenny’s use of language is fairly uninteresting and definitely not witty. He is certainly no Dr. Seuss. This is true of the lyrics for the songs that crop up at odd moments (this a play with songs, not a musical), which have not inspired composer Jason Jestadt to any great heights.
DiDomenicantonio is a charming Cinderella with a pleasant voice and demeanour and a love of life repressed by her step-relations. The children quite enjoy the rats especially when they mimic typical rodent behaviours like mobile nose sniffing and paw and whiskers cleaning. Robin Fisher has created a delightful set of two huge hinged sections – one side representing Cinders’ fireside dwelling, the other the Prince’s palace. For once, the acting area is open all the way to the back wall of the stage so there is a real space around the set. Fisher gives the rats costumes of decorous rags with tails and caps that signal “rat” on one side and “human” on the other. I must admit that sometimes this distinction was too subtle for me sitting as I was near the very back, but the children seemed to have no trouble knowing when the rats were rats and wen they were acting the roles of people.
During the coming holiday season, if you are looking for suitable entertainment for very young children, YPT’s new Cinderella may be just the right thing. It’s not as memorable as the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and it’s not as raucous as a pantomime, but it has a good mood and there is no doubt that the children thoroughly enjoyed the rats, the few special effects (they were very impressed by the first appearance of the glass slippers) and the chance to dance along with the Prince. Kenny’s new Cinderella is certainly “RATical” but it is really not “radical”enough to fulfill Kenny’s intention of telling us a familiar story from a new point of view.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: This review is a Stage Door exclusive.
Photo: Richard Lee, DeAnn deGruijter, Steffi DiDomenicantonio, Matthew G. Brown, Elodie Gillet and Dmitry Chepovesky ©2012 Mark Seow.
For tickets, visit http://youngpeoplestheatre.ca.
2012-11-17
Cinderella (a RATical retelling)