Review: Cinderella

In just two years, he will be celebrating forty years of residence at the Royal. He is unstoppable. However, Cinderella is his favourite subject matter. It may be the people’s seasonal favourite, but there is a drawback for Mr Kaler. It has a plot. Veterans of this annual farrago will be well aware that the words “Kaler” and “plot” do not live happily with each other. He is a freewheeling dramatist, a man whose imagination flies off at all sort sorts of tangential angles. He is ceaselessly and unpredictably funny, and this Cinderella, aided and abetted by long-time stalwarts David Leonard, Suzy Cooper and A J Powell, is an ocean-going, five star, pure gold, fur-lined dazzling delight. The breath-takingly gorgeous sets and costumes are dazzling. This is, predictably, the show to see this year.

To January 28.