Cinderella/Swan Theatre, Worcester

BRITISH traditional pantomime has of late come under attack by the forces of political correctness.

The latest nonsense recently manifested itself in a London production of Beauty and the Beast in which the heroine boasted a day job as an inventor.

She wasn’t just any whimpering victim of male oppression, oh no.

But thank heavens none of this clumsy revisionism has washed up on the shores of the Severn here in good old Worcester, because we absolutely love the pure-as-driven snow Cinders and the baddy Ugly Sisters.

Oh yes, we do… and long live harmless comic stereotyping.

Writers Chris Jaeger and Ben Humphrey never fail to come up with the traditional Christmas goods, and the Worcester Repertory Company’s seasonal offering is lit up like a Yuletide tree undergoing a power surge.

Humphrey is arguably the youngest dame in the country and moves the proceedings along at a Christmas cracker of a pace. His ad-libbing during the dreaded audience participation sequence - involving any random adult male sitting at his peril too near the aisle - is one of the more hysterical highlights of the show.

Be afraid, very afraid all you lads. This is the mother of all fairy godmothers… and she’s heading your way.

Lucy-Jane Quinlan is suitably demure as the zero hours wage slave in her sweat shop of a kitchen, while Rob Leetham as employer Baron Hardup blithely blunders and bungles his way through life.

But it’s the Ugly Sisters who generate the most noise, with the pouting and snarling Liz Grand and Claire Worboys magnificently bringing the dismal duo up to date as a pair of chavs hell-bent on destroying poor little Cinders’ dreams.

Elswhere, Dandini (Jamie Kwasnik) and Prince Charming (James Edge) keep this festive dish stewing away very nicely, while Sam Patrick’s Buttons ensures the kettle’s boiling whenever the hilarious Humphrey is nowhere to be seen.

The Swan’s version of Cinderella is a rip-roaring production that brings our great seasonal festival of foolishness bang up to date without losing any of the ingredients that have made it so popular down the centuries.

It’s a winter wonderland of a show and runs until Sunday, January 8. Oh yes it does!

John Phillpott