Director Sally Cookson says she loved the idea of a generous and sweet prince in the title role – but Zoe Williams’ daughter would hold preferred a princessThe Bristol Old Vic’s dazzling production of Sleeping Beauty the first panto I’ve cried at since I accidentally went to Cinderella with a crucifying hangover - opens with a man,also crying. He cries and cries. Servants approach and wring out his hankie. He could acquire a bath in his own tears. “Wait, what are we watching again?” asked my eight-year-old son, or T. It was a just question – there is no panto in the canon which normally starts like this. Director Sally Cookson has done more than insert comedy staging and pretty songs: she has turned the whole story on its gender-based stereotypical head,and now Sleeping Beauty is a man.
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Source: theguardian.com