Cinderella

Tivoli, Dublin

Look behind you, it’s panto season! The search for “weapons of mass seduction” has never been so un-taxing; brave the frost of downtown Dublin and head to the Tivoli Theatre for the Cheerios panto, Cinderella, and you’ll be rewarded with two ghastly, flatulent and vociferous old bags awash with big wigs, fake tan and attitude, who will be more than happy to reveal their arsenals to you. The dreadful dames are, of course, the Ugly Sisters, the perennial beasts of the season’s entertainment, brought to you by John Lovett, who plays the emerald-haired Buffy (a panto character previously played by Joe Conlon, now “Fluffy” in the Mill’s show in Dundrum) and her lascivious sister, Bridie, played by reality-TV star Brian Dowling.

Cinderella’s game and enthusiastic cast is led by Alan Hughes in the guise of Sammy Jedward Sausages (the third, and mightily quiffed, member of the Jedward triplets). The glittering Pippa O’Connor is Fairy Big Sister and careworn Cinders is the melodic Sinead Mulvey, who is back in panto frock having survived the Eurovision Song Contest.

Anthem Productions have been delivering rambunctious pantomime to an eager Christmas audience for years, and despite major cast and venue changes, Cinderella, written and produced by Karl Broderick and directed by Simon Delaney, maintains the company’s track record for high production values and full-on entertainment. It pokes gentle fun at celebrity culture and leaves the wearying state of the nation outside the door; it may not fill your Christmas stocking with nuggets of biting satire, but it is glittering and heartwarming entertainment.

Booing the baddies and urging Cinders towards a life of royal monogamy with her sweet, if somewhat fey, Prince Charming (a gentle and accomplished Elliot Moriarty), the opening-night Tivoli audience was besieged by tottering princesses in woolly hats and tutus, waving their sparkling streamers and giggling at Sammy Sausages in his vaguely obscene babygro. This is traditional family fun to keep the cold winds of January at bay. Until Jan 17.