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Rory Dulku as Prince Kavi, Sonya Venugopal as Surinderella and Leela Kapil, who apparently can also be found inside a cow Surinderella Wolverhampton Grand **** Pantomime is that most British of institutions, our gift to the world . . . (fill in with Oh, yes it is! Oh, no it isn't! Oh, yes it is! . . . etc for several minutes), until now that is, as Rifco Theatre sort of gives panto staple Cinderella a touch of Eastern promise in this delightful take on a traditional tale. Cinderella becomes Surinderella with our put-upon heroine transported from Western to Desi culture – but, sadly for her, she is still poor, still dressed in rags and still bullied by the ugly sisters. Some things never change. Sonya Venugopal is simply superb in the title role, the American actress is attractive, commands the stage when she appears and has a voice to die for, powerful, clear as a bell and smooth as silk. She had the audience eating out of her hand from the moment she appeared – they simply adored her. She appeared in The Life of Pi on Broadway and although she might not be well known here yet, she is one to look out for, a star in the making. The production, written by Pravesh Kumar, dispenses with Buttons and instead Surinder's best friend is Basanti, a cow, which adds a different dimension missing out the lovelorn pathos, and star turn humour, that Buttons brings. But we do get the Ugly Sisters with Neil Varu as Lovely, a misnomer if ever there was one, and Raheem Payne as Bubbly. Neil has been in pretty well every panto known to man in an impressive CV and is no stranger to damehood while Raheem has a double Masters from Uni and is a student and exponent of the Indian classical dance form of Kathak, which is not the usual path for an ugly sister, but luckily he also has a lovely bent for comedy which is just as well as Bubbly The pair eschew the traditional over the top drag outfits associated with panto dames and spend their life being obnoxious, abusing Surinder and staring into smart phones vlogging. Their aim is to become rich as influencers, which, with a following struggling to reach single figures, leaves optimism doing some heavy lifting here. The pair work well together although in truth the jokes could benefit from a lift, especially the make-up slapstick sketch and the ghosty section which are a nod to panto stock in trade routines . . . and as for a bearded Bubbly . . . ?
It made old Babaloo either very short sighted or weird when he fell for Bubbly. Who Babaloo? Glad you asked. Babaloo, played by Dhruv Ravi, was another star turn with lovely timing and stage presence. Babaloo is this South Asian’s version of Dandini, aide to the Prince. He's another American South Asian actor and one we saw in Rifco's splendid musical Frankie Goes to Bollywood, which returns to the Grand next year. Prince Kavi comes in the form of Rory Dulku, an Irish-Indian actor and a graduate of Birmingham Conservatoire . . . with a distinction in stage fighting, just in case anyone gets any funny ideas. He has a fine voice which combines well with Sonya in duets. And it can't be a Cinderella, Surinderella or indeed anyoldella without a Fairy Godmother, or in this case a Devi Godmother, entering, as is a tradition going back almost a thousand years, from stage right. Bhavini Sheth is clearly enjoying herself in the role and gets the audience on side from the off, scattering magic dust wherever she goes. The essential panto story might have moved 4,000 miles or so, but the essentials are retained, the poor girl, with the generous heart, winning her prince after losing her . . . trainer (times is hard) at the ball and finding true love, and her missing trainer, in the Prince's search for the foot that fits. We have the magical coach and let's be honest, if the story is told well, we don't miss the big budget effects. Surinder had her coach and her ticket for the ball and that was all that mattered. Aided by a hard working ensemble who bring the show to life with their dancing and singing Anna Maria Barber's choreography gave us Indian as well as western dance, and even choreographed trees rolling around the stage, while Joe Price's lighting added drama to the simple, but effective set. PBN's music and songs tied into the story and the mix of cultures appealed to both South Asian and Western audiences with Asian words and idioms also given in English. It is a show with innocent charm, is family friendly and fun and directed by Ameet Chana, Surinderella will be finding her Prince to 27-09-25 . . . oh, yes she will! Roger Clarke 25-09-25 |
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