DO yourself a favour and buy tickets to see Wingham High School’s production of Cinderella.
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For the price of $8.00 per person you will be buying yourself a couple of hours of fun and lively entertainment that you won’t regret.
A matinee performance was held on Wednesday November 19 for primary school children (and one journalist!), and the children seemed to enjoy the proceedings as much as the journalist, given the giggling coming from the audience.
The play opens with a stirring rendition of ‘Apache’ by the eight-piece band, and the quirky choice of music sets the tone for the rest of the musical selections, most of which are songs from the 50s.
In fact, the entire production has a 50s flavour, and you will be forgiven for seeing similarities to Grease.
Set in a shoe shop and a high school, the lead male character, Danny Prince, is surrounded by his leather-clad, shade-wearing gang, and ‘Cindy’ is the demure, innocent, blonde and sweet Sandra Dee type.
But this is not Cinderella as you know it. The play challenges the idea of the Cinderella complex, whereby women have a fear of independence and a desire to be taken care of by others.
However Cindy is no shrinking violet. She’s not one of the popular girls, but she has a mind of her own. Danny Prince finds this very attractive, and Cindy’s self-awareness prompts Danny to shed his ‘mask’ of leather and toughness to be true to himself and what he wants to be.
This in turn leads to a humorous scene where all the gang members follow suit, with surprising results.
The messages “be true to yourself” and “follow your dream” are made evident throughout the performance.
The script is an original, written collaboratively over four months by drama teacher Merilyn Kendall and year 10 student Grace Callaghan.
The production is excellently directed by student Taylah Zanardi and Merilyn Kendall. Taylah also had to step in at the last minute to play the lead role of Cindy, as Hayley Watt was taken ill.
Taylah had to learn the lines overnight and, though she said she was very nervous, she very capably filled the role.
Standout performances on the day were Grace Callaghan as Fairy God Mother 2, whose solo ballad produced goosebumps, Olivia Russell as the evil step-mother Cruelella, and bass player Sophie Smyth, whose vocals in ‘Shout’, the concluding song, were strong and rousing.
The ensemble works delightfully together, the band sounds professional, and the set is simple yet dramatic in its graphicness.
Overall, it is a quirky, toe-tapping, energetic and plain old fun production that is not to be missed.
Well done to Merilyn Kendall and her students for a thoroughly enjoyable piece of work!
Tickets are $8.00 per person and can be bought from McKeogh's Betta Electrical in Wingham, or from Wingham High School.