Christmas would not be Christmas in the UK without the onset of the pantomime season. Theaters up and down the land give way to the colourful, family, slap-stick humour of the pantomime. Celebrities appear in the most surprising roles to join in the seasonal fun. One of the most popular titles is the adaptation of the beloved fairy-tale Cinderella.
Poor Cinderella is a persecuted heroine. She has lost her own mother and father and is left in the ‘care’ of her step-mother and her daughters – the ugly sisters.
The origins of Cinderella can be traced back through different cultures at various times in history from: Greek mythology, Chinese fable, seventeenth century France in Perrault’s verison in 1697 and the Brothers Grimm’s Ashenputtel to name but a few.
It is a universal theme. Beauty is more than skin deep and so is ugliness. Cinderella’s rescuer can be magical, human, a tree – or in my version on this Cinderella theme, a combination of faith, hope and love in human form who seeks justice for my poor Ellie. Of course, the greatest of these is love 🙂
valerie holmes, author 