Over the past few years, Joel Horwood and Morgan Lloyd Malcolm have established themselves as very possibly London’s wittiest and most subversive writers of pantomime. Their latest effort is a knowing, puckish take on Cinderella, overseen by the Lyric’s artistic director Sean Holmes.
Orthodox it ain’t. Instead there’s a vein of parodic naughtiness running through proceedings. There are willfully terrible puns — for instance, a rendition of All By Myself turns into a visual gag involving mice and an elf. But part of Horwood and Lloyd Malcolm’s shtick is an exuberant delight in playing with panto clichés. Some of the jokes are quite risqué but the party of pre-teens in front of me (who knew all the words to the now obligatory Rihanna and Nicki Minaj songs) seemed to get them without being reduced to giggles.
The performers certainly relish the writers’ inventiveness. Julie Atherton brings a sweet-natured buoyancy to the title role, which is no longer the show’s main focus. The ugly sisters, played by David Ganly and Hammed Animashaun, look like burly rugby forwards and raise plenty of laughs.
Steven Webb is an excellent Buttons, purveying a surreal brand of camp as he flicks throwaway lines into the stalls — “Dark times”, “Sad face. Single tear”. The highlight is Mel Giedroyc’s Ms Hardup, replacing the traditional Baron Hardup. A mix of Cruella de Vil and Lady Gaga (especially when she mentions her poker face), she’s outrageous and enjoyable, as well as a source of improvised mischief.
The topical references aren’t as sharply contemporary as they might be. Prince Charming (William Ellis) stammering like Bertie in The King’s Speech feels a bit 2011, and a minor running joke around hashtags is pointless.
Nods to Gangnam Style and the Great British Bake-off are no less predictable than quips about tax evasion. Yet there’s much savour. There are slicker pantomimes than this but Cinderella is true to the Lyric’s spirit of messy, daring entertainment — probably better suited to teens than the under-tens.
Until January 5 (020 8741 6850, lyric.co.uk)
