By Craig Edgar
The classic story of Cinderella with a twist. Is Prince Charming really Charming or will it be lovable Buttons that steals Cinderella’s heart? A fun family pantomime full of surprises, well known characters and a cute little rabbit called Chip.
Cast
Cinderella (F), Buttons (M), Chip (M/F), Poppet (F), Prince Michael Charming (M/F), Dandini (M/F), Lady Katrina (F), Melisande and Griselda (M), The Fairy Godmother (F), Philippe and Sebastian (M), Chorus and dancers.
Photo credit Em Watkins. Haslington Amateur Dramatic Society
An excerpt from The Masque and the Slipper, A Cinderella Story
ACT 1
Scene 1
The curtains open, the scene is a bright and happy village in the middle of summer; Lively Music is playing, several villagers enter dancing and being merry.
Song 1
They gather and start chatting as the music fades, they notice the audience.
Villager 1 (Merrily Waving) Hello there!
Villager 2 (Equally merry) Welcome to our village!
Villager 3 (As above) You’re just in time.
Villager 4 Our midsummer festival is about to begin
Villager 1 Prince Michael Charming will be here any minute to declare the festival to begin!
Villager 2 We are just waiting for Cinderella.
Cinderella enters; she wears rags but is happy and jovial
Cinderella Hello, everyone!
Villagers Hello, Cinderella!
Cinderella (To the audience) Hello there, I’m Cinderella, but you can call me Cinders. You must be here for the summer festival; (Local Village) the village we are twinned with has awful weather this time of year, I bet they wish they were here. I am so excited Prince Michael is opening the festival this year, I’d love to see a real-life prince! (Sadly) I just hope my Stepmother lets me stay a while longer this year.
Villager 3 You shouldn’t listen to her Cinders, stay here with us, and enjoy yourself.
Villager 4 Yes, Buttons and Poppet will be here too!
Cinderella Yes, where are Buttons and Poppet anyway? They so wanted to see the prince. I’d better go find them, see you later. (She waves to the villages and the audience)
Villagers Bye, Cinderella.
Villager 1 It’s a shame about Cinders.
Villager 2 Losing her mother at such an early age.
Villager 3 And then losing her father as well.
Villager 4 But only after he got married again.
Villager 1 But it was a wicked woman he married, Lady Katarina.
Villager 2 She only married him for his money.
Villager 3 When he died, she wanted to get rid of Cinders.
Villager 4 But all the money was left to Cinderella.
Villager 1 To be given to her on her wedding day.
Villager 2 So, Lady Katrina keeps Cinders as a servant.
Villager 3 To wait on her and her two daughters.
Villager 4 Melisande and Griselda.
Villagers THE TWO UGLY SISTERS!! URGHHH!
Buttons enters
Buttons Hey guys!
Villagers Hello, Buttons!
Buttons (To audience) Hiya Folks! I am Buttons. I’m the butler at Lady Katrina’s House, but you’d probably know her better as the Wicked Stepmother. If you see her give her a good Boo and Hiss from me! Do you guys wanna be my friends? (The audience say yes hopefully) Well then, let’s do this proper. When I say, “Hello folks!”, you say: “Hello Buttons!”. Can you do that? Let’s give it a try! (Banter with the audience) Great stuff. Anyway, I am looking for Cinders have you seen her?
(Audience and villagers should answer)
Villagers Yes! She was looking for you! Where have you been? etc
Buttons Oh heck, Poppet and I have been looking for Chip, Cinderella’s pet rabbit. He’s got out of his hutch again, and if Melisande and Griselda, or their mother, find him before we do, then we’ll having rabbit stew for dinner and the sisters will have a new pair of ear muffs each!
(Cinders and Poppet enter)
Cinderella Buttons! Poppet just told me about Chip, we have to find him before mother does!
Poppet I’ll never understand why your sisters don’t like Chip, but your sisters seem to dislike anything that’s hairy, has big ears and large teeth.
Buttons Good thing they never look in the mirror then.
Cinderella Okay, let’s spilt up and find Chip quickly, before the prince arrives. I want us to see him open the festival together.
Poppet (Teasing Cinders) You really do want to see the Prince, don’t you? Maybe he will see you in the crowd and invite you to the summer ball tonight!
Cinderella (Giggling) Oh Poppet, stop it! (Sadly) Even if he did see me, my stepmother would never allow me to go.
Poppet Oh, forget that old bat; if it were up to her, you would never go out.
Cinderella It’s okay, I have a great time staying in most evenings with Buttons.
Poppet Maybe you two should just run off together?
Cinderella (Actually considering it) Well . . .
Buttons Cinders and me? No, we’re mates aren’t we, nothing more! (He punches Cinder slightly on the arm in a joking, boy way)
Cinderella (Sad for a second) Yeah, just chums. (She punches Buttons arm back, hurting him, then they glance longingly at each other for a moment before breaking eye contact) Come on, Poppet. Let’s go find Chip, see you all later.
Villagers and Buttons Bye.
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