Review: SOHO CINDERS, Union Theatre, 27 November 2016

Theatre has been described as "writing in air", the performance living on only in the memories of those lucky enough to witness it. For many years, the Union Theatre has ameliorated the impact of that aspect of the form by finding musicals that may have passed under the radar first time round and reviving them with energy and no little skill. It's a trick pulled off again with Soho Cinders, George Stiles' and Anthony Drewe's 2012 re-imagining of the Cinderella tale for the 21st century.

And what a delight it is. Anthony Drewe and Elliot Davis's book follows the fortunes of Robbie, a gay guy in Old Compton Street, who is having a clandestine affair with James Prince (geddit?) a (closeted) candidate for the London mayoralty, while being pursued by industrialist / politician Lord Bellingham. As if that wasn't enough, Robbie has been thrown out of his home by his evil step-sisters, Clodagh and Dana, with just the support of his best friend, Velcro (geddit??), to hold his life together.

This ingenious (and, crucially, eminently plausible) set-up gives an edge to the story as electoral politics is stirred into a pot already bubbling with gender and class politics, with a touch of Old and New Soho in the background too for those of us who remember Berwick Street in the 80s.

This contemporary subject matter is backed up by very strong songs played live under musical director, Sarah Morrison, the highlights including Clodagh and Dana's very funny swearing off dating, "I'm So Over Men" and Velcro and Marilyn's beautiful lament "Let Him Go" - an 11 o'clock number if ever I heard one. You can't have a great musical without great songs, and this show has plenty.

Material like this needs actor-singers on top of both their skills to do it justice and casting director Harry Blumenau has assembled a superb company for director, Will Keith. Michaela Stern and Natalie Harman may look and behave like Sandra and Tracey from Viz, but they sing like angels as the ugly sisters. Samuel Haughton, with a devilish Derren Brown look, is tremendous as the candidate's spin doctor, with Lewis Asquith giving his Prince just the right balance of charm, ambition and hypocrisy.

The two standouts are Emily Deamer and Lowri Walton as the two women who love their gay men, Velcro all heart and decency and Marilyn finding a way to stand by her man without standing by him, women who emerge stronger for their misjudgements. I so wanted things to work out for them - a surefire indication that the emotional connection so vital in an intimate space, had been forged.

What pushes this show into five star territory is the lighting and choreography, never bettered at the Union. Iain Dennis's and Joanne McShane's work add atmosphere and spectacle, maximising the impact of the resources at their disposal without ever resorting to the forced approach one sometimes sees "because we have to have some dancing". Super stuff!

Excellent entertainment and a real treat to see back in London after its five week run at Soho Theatre in 2012.

Soho Cinders continues at The Union Theatre until 22 December.

Photo Darren Bell