Panto season has officially started and we kicked it off with a visit to the Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot to watch Cinderella. This was our first time visiting the Shakespeare North Playhouse and we were blown away from the moment we arrived as it’s unlike any theatre we have been too before. It has such a lovely welcoming vibe with a bar that was serving what looked to be full meals, displays on every wall where you could discover fascinating facts about various topics from Shakespeare to fairies and then a whole room dedicated to entertaining the kids pre show. In here we found giant games including Tetris, dressing up costumes in various sizes and a table full of colouring sheets and creative activities, it was brilliant. And if all that wasn’t enough just as we were working out where to go for our seats there was an impromptu dance show in the lobby put on by local teenagers which was simple beautiful. All this and we hadn’t even sat down for Cinderella yet!
When we did go in to the theatre to sit down we were a bit taken back at first and if you’ve been before you will know what I mean. Naturally, we were expecting your usual high rise, forward facing stage but instead we were presented with a rather small, 360 degree round stage that was surrounded by seats. Having seen a number of pantomime’s over the years I really did not know how this was going to work.
But it did. It more than worked because Cinderella at the Shakespeare North Playhouse was one of the best performances we have ever seen, and we’ve been lucky enough to see a few.
There are only 5 performers all playing various roles and each performer is incredible and they maximise every inch of that stage whilst simultaneously making sure that everyone can not only see from wherever they are but that everyone also feels a part of the story too.
The cast includes Tia Larsen who plays the roles of a theatre staff member and then Cinderella. Not the Cinderella you are probably familiar with but a much more relatable version who has dreams of being an intrepid explorer.
Tia is joined on stage by Emma Grace Arends who plays Mandy the fairy (and other roles). Emma is the main narrator of the play as she explains her role in the Cinderella story. She has a wonderful way of captivating the audience from the very start, her ability to go from one character to another displaying very different personality quirks was also extremely impressive and somewhat hilarious. We will definitely be looking for more of Emma’s performances in 2026.
Emma Bispham’s main role is Filania but I think we loved her most as Cinderella’s mum. She brings a great energy to the stage and when she sings you can’t help but join in.
Thomas Cotran also plays numerous roles but our favourite was the horse loving Prince Flarf, however we also loved it when he is joined on stage by Elliott Kingsley and together they become the ugly sisters.
Cinderella is amazing from start to finish, it is laugh out loud funny, requires just the right amount of audience participation and has some great bangers throughout, especially if you grew up in the 90’s!Plus you’ll go home having learnt a new dance that you won’t be be able to forget in a hurry, even if you want to!
Overall we highly recommend Cinderella at the Shakespeare Playhouse North, it is an incredible show with an amazingly talented cast and the perfect way to start your festive fun.
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