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BrumHour is invited to share and review productions at Blue Orange Theatre throughout the year by J W Theatres.
By Julie Wallis
Tinder-Ella at Blue Orange Theatre
Tinder-Ella wants a fella is an adult panto written by Paul Hutton and directed by James Williams at Blue Orange Theatre until 14th December. Now let’s set the record straight, this is a very adult panto, definitely not family-friendly and I wouldn’t recommend you take granny and granddad. They’d love it, but you will squirm with embarrassment as granddad guffaws at every bawdy joke and innuendo.
Very loosely based on Cinderella, Tinder-Ella (Daisy-May Parsons) wants to find herself a nice man so she turns to the world of online dating where she hooks up with the handsome prince (Alex McDonald-Smith). Of course Tinder-Ella has two ugly sisters Clunge (Emma Morgan) and Flange (Thom Stafford) who try their best to sabotage Tinders budding romance.
All proceedings are narrated by Sluttons who is a lot like Buttons, but in a more shall we say Anne Summers, inspired outfit. It leaves very little to the imagination. Sluttons (Jack William Callahan) also plays the part of the fairy godmother only in this version we have a furry nobgobbler. Add an ensemble (Lauren Stevenson, Millie Shaw, Amelia Cameron-Padmore) wearing cheeky little outfits and you have an adult panto.
With all the usual aspects of a panto, lots of audience participation, cheering, song and dance routines, jokes and a few adult toys (I’m not sure if BrumHour will say dildos!) and you have a night out like no other. Not many pantos give a full bikini wax scene and make it this funny! Especially when the offending piece of furry wax is tossed into the audience.
This is not a show for the easily offended, the language, the props and the outfits all made me laugh out loud, as did the rest of the audience. You have been warned.
Daisy-May Parsons as Tinder-Ella has a beautiful singing voice, she plays her part well but I was blown away when she started singing, she shines in her role as Tinders. Jack William Callahan steals the show as the bawdy, sexy Sluttons and he loves interacting with his audience. Some people are natural entertainers and I think Jack was born to be on stage.
But for me, the most fun to watch was Emma Morgan who embraced her role as the ugly sister and she never failed to get the laughs. Her comedy timing is impeccable as proven when the entire cast do the ‘if I was not in pantomime something I would be’ routine. Slapstick, silly but always terrific fun. The audience once again gets squirted with a water pistol so don’t wear your best silk shirt if you are sitting towards the front.
The simple sets work so well worth on this tiny stage, just a painted backdrop to indicate a kitchen or wherever the scene is and nothing else needed. Lighting designer Alex Johnson finishes the magic.
The costumes range from Tinder-Ella who dresses ‘normally’. jog pants or a cutesy dress, to the outrageous ball gag and leather strap outfit as worn by Sluttons towards the end, I can honestly say I’ve never seen outfits quite like Sluttons and the handsome prince wore on stage worn anywhere else.
This production is filthy, funny but filthy. It’s bawdy, it’s brash and it’s decidedly blue but I laughed throughout the entire 70 minutes.
Tinder-Ella is at Blue Orange Theatre until 14th December 2019. Book tickets here: blueorangetheatre.co.uk/project/tinderella
This isn’t a sponsored post.
