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A Trans Fairy Tale

 
Sascha Cooper Review by Sascha Cooper 4 Published: 22 May 2022 Latest Music Bar Show Dates: 18 May 2022-20 May 2022

A Trans Fairy Tale at the Latest Music Bar was a fairytale that focused on the most unsuspecting of characters - the Fairy Godmother. And she has her own story to tell. Cerys, playing Fairy Godmother as well as various other characters, uses puppetry and small props she can balance on her hand to depict them. With the aid of her own back-chatting narrator in voice-over, she was on her way to self discovery and more in this entertaining, thrilling and moving tale that looks at the character from a different angle. It also focused on a reworking of Cinderella that was fresh, current and looked at through new eyes.

entertaining, thrilling and moving tale

What was particularly interesting about this version of Cinderella was that in the first instance, it was told from the Fairy Godmother's honest and frank perspective. The observations made were quick witted and at times sarcastic, which made the tale extremely entertaining and engaging, as well as added other layers to it. Especially when she portrayed all the characters she came across as alternatives to their traditional versions - from Cindy the 'street' girl to the drag queen Ugly Step-Sister. This added a different dynamic that not only made us look at fairy-tales in a different way, but made us aware that when we really look underneath the surface, we may not always like what we see.

It needs to be noted here that A Trans Fairy Tale is not for those who are triggered by themes examined here, such as transphobia or physical and mental abuse (as also pre-warned by our narrator), but these themes were extremely sensitively explored in the writing and performance. Also, because the tale focused on our Fairy Godmother in particular, it was refreshing to see a take that shows that even Fairy Godmothers suffer - a lot of it in silence until now.

Cerys' portrayal of this role was comical, angry and emotional and really drew us in as she revealed her life as she granted wishes through her agency despite claiming she didn't have magical powers and (sometimes) rather reluctantly let us into tiny snippets of her life - for instance, how she stumbled across Cinderella behind Wetherspoons, drank her sorrows away and more. She also portrayed the other characters with ease and great comic physicality. Although it would have been nice to make sure some character voices had slightly more definition from her Fairy Godmother on the odd occasion, it was mesmerizing to watch as she transitioned from one to the other.

More interestingly though, A Trans Fairy Tale had another layer to it... the art of slowly breaking down deeply ingrained beliefs and focusing on self mental health care in an insightful and creative way. It not only changed how we see fairytales, but made us believe in ourselves as people again when we released our own inner magic. 

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The Blurb:

Think you know the truth about Fairy Tales? Meet... whatever her name is. Working as a Fairy Godmother, she never gets the spotlight. But when she finally gets her own back-talking narrator, she might finally get the Happily Ever After she's always wanted. A re-vamp of the 2019 sell-out show, under new creative direction from Clap Back Club, A Trans Fairy Tale asks 'What does Happily Ever After look like for a trans person today?' with jokes, drama and puppets. 'Packed full of sharp one-liners that had the whole audience laughing.' - Broadway Baby