CINDERELLA Hong Kong Players, Arts Centre December 11-14, 17-20 What do you get if you cross a dinosaur with a comedian? An animal which tells jokes that are at least 65 million years old.
If you think that is corny, come to the Hong Kong Players' rip-roaring pantomime version of that old-as-the-hills tale, Cinderella. No matter that half the jokes are old hat, there are also some good, new Hong Kong-specific ones.
And it also does not matter that we all know the story - there are some fun new twists. There's some great singing and dancing, and all the panto tricks in the book - ghouls in the night (It's behind you!), custard pies, Keystone Cops-type chases and audience participation galore. And the acting is terrific.
Evan Blank and Anthony Michell as the gloriously hammed-up ugly sisters Cow and Loon (geddit?), aka the Spice Girls, were booed and hissed, just about saving them from completely stealing the show.
Another highlight is Meg Timmins as the wonder-working fairy godmother (aka Anson Chan) - a godmother to die for.
Shareen Sing as Prince Charming and the ever-smiling Sandra Leung as Cinders are as sickly sweet as they are supposed to be. But why is it we are still pleased when the slipper fits and Cinders gets her man? Martyn Minns as Buttons, aka Gary Glitter, gets lots of sympathy for secretly loving Cinders and losing her to the leggy Prince Charming. Richard St Leger Gillman and Graham Carder as the (somewhat thick) tax-collecting brokers' men add more comedy, and Peter Baldwin as Baron Hardup, Cinders' drunken sot of a dad, has a merry line in risque jokes and groan-worthy puns.