The Regent, Christchurch
51 High St, Christchurch BH23 1AS
We are proud to present the nation’s favourite pantomime – CINDERELLA and are delighted to be producing it at The Regent, Christchurch this Christmas.
This year’s hilarious pantomime is suitable for the whole family and audiences will be captivated by this production which is full of magic, laughter, audience participation and spectacular surprises.
CINDERELLA tells the story of a girl who dreams to escape her life as a servant, being bossed around all day by her naughty step sisters. Her best friend Buttons and her Fairy Godmother will make her dreams come true in this enchanting fairytale, as a dashing Prince and his best friend Dandini hold their annual ball at the palace.
Will they find their happy ever after? Book now to find out - but don’t wait till midnight to secure the best seats - you’re sure to have a ball!
The countdown has begun!
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History of Cinderella
How Many Versions?
Nobody really knows how many versions of the Cinderella story there are, but estimates vary from 340 to over 1,500!
In the Italian story, the heroine is called Zezolla and she has not one, but two stepmothers. She plots with her governess to kill her first stepmother, then with the governess to kill her second stepmother, then the governess marries her father and brings with her not two but six cruel stepsisters! Zezolla’s help comes from a magical date tree and, when she eventually comes out on top, she does not forgive her stepsisters, but drives them out of the court.
In a Romanian version, the heroine is an emperor’s daughter whose wicked relations force her to live in a pigsty, and in a Swedish story the fairy godmother is a magic ox!
The Egyptian Cinderella, Rhodope, has her sandal carried off by an eagle and dropped at the feet of the Pharaoh, while in Kashmir, India, she loses her nose ring in the river where it is swallowed by a fish and served to the King.
Shoes
When the president of the Philippines and his wife, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, went into exile in 1986 the new government discovered that they had stolen $860 million from the people. A large proportion of this must have been spent on footwear, because Mrs Marcos is believed to have owned 3,000 pairs of shoes. Apparently she used to buy every available colour in the same size!
Stepmothers
Cinderella is not the only familiar fairy tale to feature a wicked stepmother - what about the Queen who tried to kill Snow White so that she can be the fairest in the land, and the stepmother who persuades her husband to abandon his children in Hansel and Gretel?
Sisters
“There were never such devoted sisters”, so ran a popular song from a few years ago, but is this how you feel about your sisters? Or is it more like “can’t live with them, can’t live without them”? The fate of Cinderella’s stepsisters varies with the different versions of the story; in some she forgives them and helps them find rich husbands after she marries the prince, in others she banishes them from royal court, and sometimes they even end up as blind beggars! In our version they get a taste of their own medicine and get to experience what it feels like to be bossed around and have to clean and tidy all day long. What would you do in Cinderella’s place?
Video from a previous performance of Cinderella, Polka Dot Pantomimes.
