Cinderella and the Beanstalk, Theatre 503 review ★★★★★

Welcome to the annual panto at Theatre 503, the bijou Battersea studio space above The Latchmere pub. Comedy troupe Sleeping Trees' twist on the traditional pantomime has become a Culture Whisper favourite, and this year the usual hilarity and hi-jinks are handled by an all-female cast and crew.

Lou, Anna and Amanda introduce Cinderella and the Beanstalk, promising an ambitious show full of action, excitement and 40 different characters. There's just once hitch: they forgot to hire any actors. The show must go on, and so the trio must improvise and role-swap their way through two hours of madcap panto tropes.

Despite her protestations ('I don't DO princess'), Lou has to wear the tutu to be Cinders. But feminists in the audience will be heartened to find that our heroine is a DIY savvy Parkour enthusiast kind of aspiring royal. She and her Prince Charming bond over a shared love of the Wickes brochure in a song that riffs on Disney's Frozen.

With Amanda assuming a split personality to play both ugly sisters simultaneously and Anna donning a puppet and unidentifiable accent to animate villainous Rumpelstiltskin, the typical Cinderella story gets sidelined for a journey through multiple fairytale myths via mermaids, dwarves, talking cows and a giant beanstalk.

Thanks to the comic timing of all three actors, the increasingly ridiculous costumes and character switching adds an extra layer of laughter to the typical panto gags.