Cinderella Pantomime Script Spotlight
The fairy godmother of pantomimes!
Cinderella is performed more often than any other panto title, so our Cinderella pantomime script has to give a group a reason to pick it over the rest. Ours starts with Ugly Sisters called Ammonia and Amnesia, one of whom cannot reliably remember which is which. There is a Fairy Godmother who is perpetually stressed and has delegated most of the actual magic to her intern, Fairy Sparkles, a pair of bailiffs named Grabbit and Runn, and a Buttons whose unrequited love for Cinderella runs through the whole show with warmth rather than as comic punctuation. This is the classic pantomime story with the NLP treatment!
Synopsis
Cinderella is overworked, underpaid and thoroughly fed up at Hardup Manor, where Baroness Hardup rules the household with gleeful malice and has written Cinderella out of the Baron’s will entirely. When the Prince announces a Royal Ball in search of his future bride, the Baroness bans Cinderella from attending, naturally.
What follows involves a pumpkin, a golden carriage, a glass slipper and a Fairy Godmother doing her absolute best under difficult circumstances. Buttons wants nothing more than for Cinderella to find happiness, even if it isn’t with him. And Ammonia and Amnesia have already decided which one of them is marrying the Prince.
You shall go to the ball, and you’ll have a brilliant time when you get there!
Straight from the Script
Ammonia and Amnesia introduce themselves to the audience:
Ammonia: 'My name is Ammonia. When I enter a room, everyone stands back aghast!'
Amnesia: 'And my name is… um… I've forgotten.'
Casting Cinderella: Who this script suits
Cinderella runs to 11 principal characters and two supporting roles, placing it in our medium cast scripts, and it asks for depth rather than numbers. The two Ugly Sisters, Fairy Sparkles, Buttons, Dandini and the Baroness all need performers who can hold a scene, alongside Cinderella and the Prince. The Royal Ball gives a larger Ensemble real opportunity, with townsfolk, mice-turned-footmen and ball guests all part of the spectacle. The golden carriage transformation is written as a proper wow moment, with a practical alternative included for groups short on wing or stage space. It is the most reliable seller among our traditional pantomime scripts, which counts for a lot when the budget depends on the box office.
Buttons is the biggest ask. He opens the show, holds the audience relationship from his first line, plays four scenes in front of the tabs and keeps his call and response running the whole way through, so give him to a performer who can work a room and hold his nerve when a night goes its own way. Ammonia and Amnesia need the same confidence, since they bring the house lights up and play a stretch of Act One with two named members of the audience. The two supporting parts, the Fairy Godmother and the Emcee, are short and self-contained, which makes them worth holding back for members who cannot commit to a full rehearsal schedule.
Fairy Sparkles carries the other call and response, and it is the one groups tell us about afterwards.
Staging is more forgiving than the title suggests. The script runs to 12 scenes but needs only three full sets, the Town Square, Hardup Manor and the ballroom, and five front-cloth scenes alternate with them so the changes happen behind closed tabs, with the interval covering the only change that has nothing in front of it. The Baroness sings alone, Cinderella and the Prince have a duet, and there is a song sheet at the end, so you want at least three principals who can sing properly.
If your company is this size but would rather its comedy sat on a villain the audience can boo than spread across a Dame pair, our Dick Whittington is built on the same 11 principals and two supporting roles, and puts its spectacle into a second-act sea voyage rather than a transformation on stage.
Cinderella Reviews
‘This is the classic fairy tale all gussied up with slapstick, topical humour, local references and audience interaction.'
Healdsburg Tribune
‘Cinderella is a thoroughly entertaining script with plenty of jokes to be enjoyed by all.’
Redbridge Theatre Group
‘Nick has written a really good script for Cinderella. We especially enjoyed the “It’s Magic Time!” shout.’
Ashford Players
Request your free Perusal Script
If you'd like to read our Cinderella script in full before you decide, request a free Perusal Script and we'll send it over, or visit the Cinderella script page for the character list and running time. Our home page and the All Scripts page will show you everything else.