³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

The distinctly Russian flavour to this year's panto was clear from the outset. With dancing Cossack soldiers, a Russian winter palace and a raft of Russian names and music, it was evident that Cinderella & The Glass Slipper was going to illustrate the snowy winters we've all been dreaming of.

The Russian flavour to the performance added a new dimension to the Cinderella pantos we've all seen before. Instead of Cinderella, we meet poor kitchen maid Vasilissa Anya Kirochka Ella (Jodie Kumble) – that's Cinders to her friends.

Nearly all the cast have Russian names which provide a frequent source of amusement to the audience and the characters on stage. And how could I forget to tell you - instead of Prince Charming, all the girls are vying for the attentions of Prince Charminski (Ben Fleetwood Smyth).

Cinders and Prince Charminsky

Buttons (Joe Evans) quickly befriended the audience and guided the town's children through the story that we've all come to love since childhood. He was joined by Angelika (Johanne Murdock), Cinderella's fairy Godmother, both at times mere plot devices, but crucial to the panto genre – keeping the more distracted members of the audience entertained.

Sadly Buttons' jokes, although intentionally not meant to be roll-over funny, were a lost opportunity to maintain the bigger kids' attention.

Oh nyet he isn't

Particular praise has to be landed at Gregory Ashton's door. As the Welsh sounding ugly stepsister Gladys Glasnost, he was laugh-out-loud funny and often spoke his lines as if delivering them for the first time.

His character was, at times, a mix of the familiar Little Britain characters Vicky Pollard and Daffyd, supposedly the only gay in the village. He was joined by his Scottish sister, Prudence Perestroika. This more masculine than usual pantomime dame, appeared at times, a mis-matched partner in crime, because Gladys was clearly the better part.

Countess Grimallova also gave a spectacularly wicked performance as the Stepmother. It was Janet Greaves' first panto, but the depths of her evil cackle suggested she was an old hand.

What was clear was that despite catching this panto midway through its run the energy of all the characters on stage hadn't lost any momentum. The cast evidently threw their all into the production and expertly ad-libbed in part.

All in all, the panto was thoroughly entertaining, but lacked a little original Christmas sparkle, but this didn't matter to the audience a jot.

(Cinderella runs at the Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal 7 December 2007 - 20 January 2008. Box office 01284 769505 or visit the Theatre Royal website.)