Review | Cinderella at Chichester Festival Theatre: Youngsters show it's done

The Chichester Festival Youth Theatre are back with their annual offering and I love the CFYT – what they are, what they do and how they do it.

This time it’s a new version of Cinderella and please note that – a new version, so don’t go along expecting Disney.

Philip Wilson and Jason Carr have created a show with hints of the medieval and of Sondheim – a challenge to any professional adult company, but here we have amateur youngsters taking it on and turning out their usual beautiful work.

Interestingly, we meet Cinderella’s mother here, with backstory, before getting onto the more familiar ground. It’s not shallow, either.

There is a complexity, a depth to this which explains a lot about Cinderella and her approach to life.

Cinderella, on press-night, was played (in the main) by the very able Annalise Bradbury.

Her vocals are strong and clear, with sharp-as-a-knife diction and an honesty that makes you fall in love with her performance.

Gone is the fairy-godmother, to be replaced by the spirit of Cinderella’s real mother (Dolly Van) and a seagull, a swan, a parakeet, a jackdaw and an owl, characterised and performed superbly, with expertly-handled puppets, by Teddy Corcoran, Niamh Hughes, Devon Sandell, Jack Mallender and Martha Saxton.

Lovely work, too, from Dominic Lacey as the very-human Prince and – particularly – from Tilly Groves, Scarlette Guilfoyle and Daisy Chapman as the very inhuman stepmother and step-sisters.

It’s a timeless story with a timeless setting – it could be ancient or modern, neither the set nor the costume giving you any hints – and that’s what makes it so beautiful.

So – yes! Get along to support these talented youngsters giving a slant to a story you thought you knew that, perhaps, you didn’t.

And enjoy!

Tickets from £10. Until December 31. Go to cft.org.uk.