CINDERELLA, the
classic quintessential story of love and magic leading from rags to riches has
been staged by the Kampala Amateur Dramatics Society (KADS) capturing the virtues of hard work, love, friendship, kindness and forgiveness as compared to social ills like corruption, betrayal, hatred and jealousy.
Written by Alastair
Taylor and directed by Arfaan Bholim, Cinderella – If the Shoe Fits, was KAD’s 2017 annual pantomime extravaganza held from November 30 –
December 3, 2017, at the National Theatre in Kampala.
The fairy tale is
about a widower, who remarries a proud woman. The new wife comes with her two daughters; Petunia (Ben Kramer) and Gladiola (Vinnie Payne).
Petunia and Gladiola ill-treat and despise the man’s daughter from his previous marriage called Cinderella (Rebecca Richards), who she is
gentle and beautiful. Cinderella is enslaved and kept in rags, does all the
house chores and sleeps in the attic.
The King (Rahul Varun) and Queen (Angela Godshall) of the fictitious Kampala Kingdom where
Cinderella lives encourage their
son, Prince Charming (Lorraine Anderson), to
search for a bride by hosting a royal ball for all the single quality ladies of
Kampala. Of course, Petunia and
Gladiola are excited about
attending, which Cinderella will not be allowed to do.
With the help of the Fairy
Godmother’s magic, Cinderella disguised as the countess of Muyenga travels to the
royal ball in a princely pumpkin coach. The Fairy Godmother (Taylor Hughey) also changes the poor girl’s rags into a
glittering ball gown and delicate glass slippers.
The Fairy Godmother orders
Cinderella to return home by midnight for the charm ends at that time. As Cinderella
runs out of the ballroom and in her haste loses one of the glass slippers but
keeps the other.
The handsome prince,
who has fallen in love with Cinderella, finds her lost slipper. He vows to
search until he finds the girl who lost the glass slipper and marry her. The prince scans through the national identify card and mobile phone
registers to no avail.
Prince Charming then tries the
slipper on every girl in the kingdom, and it doesn't fit any of them. Finally, Cinderella
tries it on and it fits, and she
produces the mate to the magical shoe just to make sure.
The fairy tale has a
happy ending. Cinderella marries Prince Charming. She finds true love and happiness
with the prince. She forgives her stepsisters for their past meanness and finds
suitable husbands for them at the court.
In the pantomime the notorious and corrupt Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) Chief
Inspector (Keith Kisembo Kaira II) keeps demanding for all manner of licenses
from the public for all types of activities they participate in.
Ironically, the
inspector, who requires his juniors to maintain their integrity, accepts bribes
in his office in order to waive license requirements. The inspector, who was booed throughout the
play, turns out as a reformed man at the end.
The audience had a good dose of laughter as they experienced
sword fights, comedic scenes, singing, dancing, magic, and plot twists,
interspersed with all the traditional pantomime antics and characters. The costumes, sound and lighting were well executed.
The cast sang and
danced to a number of modern hit songs such as: Barry Gibb, Maurice
Gibb and Robin Gibb’s song ‘Islands in the Stream’ first
released by Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton in 1983;
Alan Menken’s composition ‘A Whole New World’ released by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle in 1992; the
official 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem ‘Waka
Waka (This Time For Africa)’
by Shakira - a copy of the original hit song ‘Zamina
mina’ released by the Cameroonian makossa group called Zangalewa.
As to why he wrote
this production, Taylor told me: “I
just liked the story of Cinderella. The two ugly sisters are very dominating
and cruel to Cinderella. And yet Cinderella is kind, hardworking and she is
trying to do her best.”
“I believe there are
many people in Uganda doing their best in their simple essential tasks and
aren’t recognised for their hard work. So, Cinderella ends up a happy woman
after marrying the prince thus jumping out of misery,” Taylor added.
“I have been in
Uganda for a long time so I know the local humour, mentality and what Ugandans
are drawn to - or what makes Ugandans laugh,” Bholim told me.
“Ugandans are very
simple people and they like humour. So when we were putting this production
together we took into consideration the types of humour for both Ugandans and
expatriates,” Bholim added.
According to Bholim,
“There were no lessons or morals to learn from this pantomime. It was pure fun and entertainment for the people to go back home with
smiles on their faces.”
Cinderella, or
The Little Glass Slipper was written
by the French author Charles Perrault and published in Paris in 1697. Perrault,
who was born in Paris in 1628 and died in
1703, also authored Little
Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty.
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Ralph (Connor Kirwan) and Prince
Charming (Lorraine Anderson) in one of scenes in Cinderella staged in Kampala. Photo by
Stuart Tibaweswa.
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(L-R) Vinnie Payne as Gladiola and Ben Kramer as Petunia
in one of the scenes in Cinderella. Photo by Stuart Tibaweswa.
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Rebecca
Richards as Cinderella in one of the scenes. Photo by Stuart Tibaweswa.
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