Theatre review: Cinderella, Alhambra, Dunfermline

THE Alhambra at Dunfermline – long used as a bingo hall, but now reopened in all its glory – is a very handsome theatre, with a large stage and more than 1,000 seats.

Cinderella

Alhambra, Dunfermline

***

It’s therefore a delight to see it once again staging its own full-scale, Fife-inflected panto, and a real pleasure to see that panto in the hands of Liam Rudden, who recently helped make the Musselburgh pantomime into a strikingly successful local Christmas
show.

In some ways, the sheer scale of the Alhambra seems like a bit of a stretch for the friendly, rowdy version of Cinderella Rudden has written and directed this year. With just five dancers on stage, plus a team of local children, the show sometimes looks a little lost, and there are some bumpy moments when the cast look uncertain and under-rehearsed – even the white ponies pulling Cinders’ coach seem slightly unsure of their next move.

There are plenty of compensations, though, in a show full of rousing popular songs, from this year’s universal panto anthem Edge of Glory, to an energetic Gangnam sequence.

James Mackenzie and Colin McCredie make a classy double-act as Prince Charming and Dandini, even if the jokes about McCredie’s previous life in Taggart become a shade wearisome.

And with plenty of local jokes, a raunchy pair of Dames, and a lovely Fairy Godmother in Jane McCarry of Still Game, the show powers its way to a glittering conclusion, cheered by a Dunfermline audience who are clearly glad to have their theatre back at last.