Cinderella: A Fairytale

Joining forces once again with the brilliant Travelling Light, we brought you Cinderella, our most successful show to date. The creative team behind Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Bristol Old Vic’s Treasure Island had audiences captivated by their modern take on one of the oldest, best loved fairytales of all time.

When a rich man’s wife dies, his daughter Ella mourns her beloved mother with a grief as deep as the snow on her grave. Before the spring sun has time to melt it, her father takes a second wife and their peaceful life is taken over by a host of new and unpleasant relations. Her only friends are the woodland birds who roost in the tree that grows over the grave, but they are no ordinary birds…

With their quirky visual style, crystal-clear storytelling, original live music and pitch-perfect ensemble acting, director Sally Cookson and team brought this classic tale of fortunes reversed startlingly and imaginatively to life.

WATCH THE REHEARSAL VIDEO BLOG

Press and Audience Quotations

"The Tobacco Factory always lays on a good Christmas show, but this one is a real classic, an exquisite Cinderella for all seasons that gets right to the heart of the story and offers its own delicious and surprising twists."

"Cooksons's production is a funny heart-warming beautiful piece of stage craft, expertly steered by swing-inspired music from Benji Bower... this Cinderella is a treat."

"This non-panto fairytale from the Tobacco Factory and Travelling Light is so bewitching that you'd gladly watch it in a heat wave... Let's hope it has a life beyond this holiday season. Because, come on Bristol, it would be selfish to keep this one all to yourselves."

"... this is a wonderfully funny as well as a very different pantomime, right from Edwards’ staccato double takes through to Lisa Kerr’s feisty Ella... and Thomas Eccleshare’s geeky, bird-watching Prince. ... yet another delicious Tobacco Factory Christmas treat."

show dates

7 December 2011 - 15 January 2012

Cast

Creative Team