Review by Adriana Nordin Manan
Summary: Cinderella is the debut production under the Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre (PJPAC) and runs at PJPAC’s Stage One from 31st May to 2nd June.
The Cinderella cast weave their magic. IMAGE: Anne Abdul.
When watching a show billed as “something grandparents and kids can sit down together to enjoy[1],” a good rule of thumb for members of the audience closer in age to grandparents than children is to not take things too seriously and just come along for the laughs. This wisdom holds true for “Cinderella” currently on at the Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre (PJPAC), where a clever and cheery script delivered by a solid cast makes us more ready to forgive a few gaps in presentation and audience experience.
Presented by PJPAC, directed by Joanna Bassey and produced by Wyn Hee, “Cinderella” is headlined by Mia Sara Shauki as Cinderella, and Brian Chan as Prince Marteeny (phonetically reminding us of a real life handsome prince you may have heard of). Cute as a button and always maintaining a calm composure even when her Evil Stepmother Datin Rosie (Joanne Kam) and Ugly Stepsisters Babina and Betina (Izzaldin K and Sheikh Irfan Mansor respectively) give her a hard time, Mia Sara’s Cinderella is likable and a protagonist to root for unreservedly. Chan as Prince Marteeny meanwhile cuts a dashing figure, peppering his lines with “annyeonghaseyo” and engaging in playful banter with his assistant, Dandini (played by Alya Amani).
Brian Chan and Mia Sara Shauki are a Prince Marteeny and Cinderella to root for. IMAGE: Anne Abdul.
Loosely faithful to the fairy tale but with much latitude to present a fresh rendition, the script by Paul Loosley, Tung Jit Yang and Joanna Bessey is appropriately funny without being overwrought. It doesn’t feel that the playwrights are begging for you to lap up all the jokes they have woven into the script. The script is an example of a non-local fairy tale localized well. It's a departure from the sometimes well-meaning but tired way local productions try to localize, by lopping in one too many “lah’s” and exaggerated accents for example. The play shines the brightest when trotting out its Gen Z, chronically online generation lingo, like when the characters admonish others for “not respecting boundaries” or “seeking consent”. Or even when Nabil Zakaria’s character, Buttons, quips that “Buttons biashe biashe aje'' in a moment of forlorn due to personal heartbreak. Some elements of the back story remind us of sordid political shenanigans, and combined with Syamsul Azhar’s multimedia backdrop which screams busy, bizarre and therefore fit for purpose, it might even leave some of us cackling. Think flying pigs and mat rempits gone wild.
Nabil Zakaria as Buttons and Alya Amani as Dandini, assistants and wing(wo)men that ramp up the humor and deliver sass in spades. IMAGE: Anne Abdul.
A pantomime, “Cinderella” invites us to sit up, listen and join in the revelry. The cast do a good job in bringing down our inhibitions, and we find ourselves faithful to suggestions to boo the villainous Datin Rosie every time she appears on stage, or to shout eagerly when asked a question by the cast as we move the story along. Once we have adequately loosened up and are ready for whatever comes, there is more. Twice, the house lights come up as a cue for audience participation in a fun way and not the kind that singles out anybody and can be uncomfortable for some people. A tip is to sit in the front rows as one might be ‘sweetly’ rewarded at some point. The vibe of elements coming from out of left field persists throughout the evening, for example romantic meet cutes involving toilet brushes, or an obviously ill-fitting prosthetic foot meant to manufacture its wearer’s destiny as the future Princess.
The cast is a joy to watch, and stand outs include Nabil Zakaria, Sheikh Irfan Mansor and Izzaldin K in addition to the two leads. Overall, it’s a performance where you can tell that the cast is enjoying themselves, a spectacle that is brought a few notches higher by the costumes by Moone and Ann Wee Li Tza which include tutus, sequin dresses, overalls with patches of fabric sewn on for the ratty and tatty aesthetic, a luscious red wig of wavy locks and a hair accessory in the shape of a frying pan with a sunny side up egg inside.
Sheikh Irfan Mansor (left) and Izzaldin K (right) are the Ugly Stepsisters we love to hate. IMAGE: Anne Abdul.
“Cinderella” has no fourth wall and enjoins the audience to join in and interact with the stage goings on from the start, so we feel a certain closeness to the cast. However, if we can distance ourselves a bit and cast a more critical eye, there are things that could have been better.
First is the curious case of the singing being drowned out by the music every time the cast broke into song. I couldn’t catch any of the lines said in song, which is a shame as this diminished the experience somewhat. The set is also sparse, which is not a negative element per se but as the venue was PJPAC’s Stage One, a fairly large proscenium stage which goes back quite far, sometimes things felt too bare and ended up looking slightly amateur, like a school production albeit a very well-polished one. The choreography especially when the ensemble took to the stage appeared a bit rough around the edges and makes one wonder how the choreographer, Christine Chong, played out the role of shepherding the cast in the rehearsal room. People expecting more songs than spoken dialogue might also leave disappointed, as the show was more dialogue-heavy and not the kind of musical where every other scene is a song and dance.
The Cinderella ensemble amplifies the camp vibes and joy on stage. IMAGE: Anne Abdul.
But one doesn’t attend a show like “Cinderella” to be a curmudgeon. Take the show for what it is, submit to the task of having fun and if it’s been a long week, this might just be what your body needs. Catch it while it’s still on, and don’t leave your glass slipper on your way out.
[1] Director Joanna Bessey as quoted in an interview. Source: https://baskl.com.my/pjpacs-debut-musical-comedy-cinderella-packs-panto-and-playfulness-this-may/
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