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This production has been made possible through the combined efforts of ENG 170 & 270 (Technical &
Advanced Technical Theatre), ENG 172 (Intro to Stage Lighting and Sound), and ENG 290
(Plays in Production)
the ur international theatre program
artistic director nigel maister
production manager gordon rice
administrator katie farrell
assistant technical director sarah eisel
props master/production associate mary reiser
costume shop manager nadine brooks taylor
box office & front-of-house manager angela giuseppetti
assistant costume shop manager grace interlichia
senior costume shop intern jennifer uvina
costume shop intern elizabeth o'neil
wardrobe supervisor lakiesha holyfield
assistant props masters lydia jimenez & penina rubin
props intern natasha sacoto
scene shop assistants cassandra donatelli & sam higgins
social media intern & pr assistant michael tamburrino
publicity interns stella kammel, fang ning (nancy) wang, milan byrdwell,
bingqing (chrissy) guo & minsi lai
theatre interns naomi everhart & devin goodman
program information compiled by penina rubin
URITP photographer adam fenster
URITP videographer xuan (amy) zhang & brian giacalone
production trailers by brian giacalone
URITP webmaster zachary kimball
graphic, program & poster design
i:master/studios at [email protected]
Kenneth Apostolakos - Megan Arnold - Danielle Bendesky - Daniel Bogucki - Elizabeth Bradley - Danielle Branton
Halle Burns - Zachary Cicero - June Clayton - Julia Cowan - Brandyn Devanney - Mathew Ervin - Elizabeth Fox
Jordan Golinowski - Chandler Haugh - Bryan Hoffman - Todd Kelmar - Garrett Kesel - Nicholas Kollias- Michael
La Porte - Woo Jong Lee - Hannah Lewis - Thomas Marone - Brian Miers - Nicholas Napolitan - Ben O'Halloran
Antonio Ortega - Mark Palmiere - Adam Parker - Nicholas Potter - Penina Rubin - William Ruiz - Isabelle Schmit
Eun Won Seo - Matthew Szeto - Michael Tamburrino - Zechariah Tredenick - Derek Wager - Devin White
special thanks
Joël Pommerat - Anne de Amezaga - Olivia Burton - Manisha Snoyer - Robert Stanton
Applied Audio and Theatre Supply - Bruce Stockton - Jeff Englander - Kevin Bruce
Melissa Becker - Prof. Russell Peck - Deborah Leinbach - Macie McGowan - Penina Rubin
Murie Gillett - Halle Burns - Daniel Bendesky - Kathryn Loveless - Derek Wager
Zoe Netter - Gordon Rice - Rory Blunt - Max Kinder - Joan, Ellis Wren, Dylan Rhys Jubett-Bauer
Carlotta Gambato, Ronni Pavan and Lulu and Sofia
Greg Ruce at Vance Curves Metal Art - URMC Orthotics Department at Clinton Crossings
Dr. Julia Nathan - Fran Lipsky-Burns
This production of Cinderella is dedicated to the memory of
Anna Kroup, a valued and deeply mourned member of the
Todd Theatre family.
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the university of rochester international theatre program presents
by joël pommerat
translated by emma laurent
directed & set design by nigel maister
costume design by tilly grimes
lighting design by solomon weisbard
sound design by obadiah eaves
video & projection design by c. andrew bauer
production staff
production stage manager ................................................................. kimberly roberts
assistant production stage manager ..................................................... alison schaefer
assistant stage managers ........................................................... christi brodeur/video
........................................................................................... stephanie busch/costumes
.................................................................................................. elizabeth fox/run crew
................................................................................................................ haoru li/props
.............................................................................................. richard munson/run crew
..................................................................................................... ben o'halloran/lights
...................................................................................................... daniel parker/sound
....................................................................................................... fulei peng/run crew
................................................................................................... nicholas potter/props
............................................................................................... jiayu (kate) tian/run crew
.......................................................................................... jiahe (abby) wang/costumes
.................................................................................................... renjin zhao/run crew
master electrician ........................................................................... cassandra donatelli
assistant master electricians ................................ elizabeth bradley & todd kelmar
audiovisual engineer ................................................................................. theo lincoln
assistant audiovisual engineer ................................................................... kyle meyers
scenic painters .............................. danielle bendesky, halle burns & lydia jimenez
hair & makeup ................................................................ grace elizabeth interlichia
stitcher ............................................................................................... melanie weekes
cutter/draper ........................................................................................ sara gallagher
assistant to the costume designer ................................................. alexandra rozansky
assistant director ...................................................................................... penina rubin
this production was made possible, in part, by the
ellen miller '55 endowment for theater productions
cinderella runs approximately 2 hour and 05 minutes with a 15 minute intermission
joël pommerat
b. 1963
J
oël Pommerat is an award-winning contemporary French playwright who developed a love of
theater at the age of 12 when he first attended
the Festival d’Avignon. At 18, he became an actor
in a regional theater company, but quickly realized
that he wanted to be a playwright and director. He
founded the Compagnie Louis Brouillard in 1990
and since then has written and directed two dozen
plays. Pommerat has been (until very recently) dedicated exclusively to staging his own works, three of
which have been adapted from fairy tales: Le petit
chaperon rouge (Little Red Riding Hood, 2004), Pinocchio (2008), and Cendrillon (Cinderella, 2011).
In an interview with Christian Longchamp,
Pommerat explained how his interest in the world of
fairy tales, and in particular Cinderella, stems from its
ability not only to affect children, but also to hold emotional resonance for adults. Pommerat speaks about
creating a Cinderella that focuses on the protagonist’s
1911-1983
bereavement over her dead mother; creating a less
violent and more complex central character.
Pommerat has earned many accolades for
his dramatic writing, including the Grand Prix for
Dramatic Literature (Les Marchands), 2010 Molière
Award for Best Company (Cercles/Fictions), 2011
Molière Awards for Best Living Francophone Author and Best Company (Ma chambre froide), and
2006 Critic’s Prize for Best Work in the French Language (Cet enfant). He was an artist-in-residence
at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris (at the
invitation of Peter Brook), and stayed through 2010
after which he became associate artist at the Odéon
Theater of Europe (2010-2013) and at the National
Theater of Belgium. Pommerat is currently preparing his first theater piece in English, a production of
Cinderella with American actors that opens at New
York Theatre Workshop in May 2014.
C. Andrew Bauer (Video Design) Previous Todd
Theatre production: The Adding Machine (dir. Nigel
Maister). NYC: CQ/CX, co-design with Peter Nigrini (dir. David Leveaux, Atlantic Theater Company); An Error of the Moon, written by Luigi Creatore
(dir. Kim Weild, Theater Row); Detour, 5 Minutes
(New York Live Arts) and Passage (LIU), all with
Amanda Selwyn Dance; The Diary of a Teenage Girl,
(dirs. Sarah Cameron Sunde and Rachel Eckerling,
3LD Art and Technology Center); Romeo and Juliet
(dir. Tony Speciale, CSC); and Milk-n-Honey for
Lightbox Theater Company (dir. Ellen Beckerman,
3LD Art and Technology Center, NYC; Ko Festival, Amherst College). Regional: Hydrogen Jukebox
(dir. Lawrence Edelson, Fort Worth Opera). As Associate Video Designer, Broadway: The Best Man (dir.
Michael Wilson, Schoenfeld Theatre), Fela! (dir. Bill
T. Jones, Eugene O'Neill Theatre), 9 to 5: the Musical (dir. Joe Mantello, Marquis Theatre) and Lestat
(dir. Robert Jess Roth, Palace Theater). As Associate
Video Designer, Off Broadway: Here Lies Love (dir.
Alex Timbers, Public Theatre), Far from Heaven (dir.
Michael Greif, Playwrights Horizons),Fetch Clay,
Make Man (dir. Des McAnuff, NYTW); The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (dir. Eddie Torres, Second
Stage) and Wings (dir. John Doyle, Second Stage). As
Associate Video Designer, Regional: Sleeping Beauty
Wakes, (dir. Rebecca Taichman, McCarter Theater,
NJ; LaJolla Theater, CA), The Elaborate Entrance of
Chad Deity (dir. Eddie Torres, Geffen Theatre; dir.
Jaime Casteñeda, Dallas Theater Center), and Before
Night Falls (dir. David Gately), Angels in America (dir.
David Gately) and Frau Margot (dir. Frank Corsaro),
all at Fort Worth Opera. As Associate Video Designer, International: Fela! (dir. Bill T. Jones, Royal
National Theatre, UK). Awards: 2010 Innovative
Theater Award for Fetes De La Nuit (dir. Kim Weild,
Ohio Theater); Design for Milk-n-Honey featured in
USA Exhibition “From the Edge,” 2011 Prague Quadrennial. Andrew was a member of the 1998-1999
Apprentice Company at Actors Theatre of Louisville.
He also edited and produced Brooklyn Bound, a narrative feature that premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film
Festival.
artist bios
Emma Laurent (Translator) is an American translator, poet, and classical pianist. She specializes in
adapting contemporary French theater for American
audiences. Laurent has translated five Joël Pommerat plays including Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio,
and I Tremble (I and II), published in Yale Theater
Magazine, and Ma Chambre Froide, for which she received the SACD translation prize in 2012. In 2013,
she was awarded residencies at the Cité des Artes in
Paris from Ville de Paris and the Om Ledig House,
through the Amazon Translation Prize.
Tilly Grimes (Costume Design) is a European stage
designer currently working between Europe and
New York. Awards include The Balsamo Grand for
Emerging Immigrant Artists, The Irish Arts Design
Award, and Irish Times Theatre Award Nomination.
Favorite credits include Martin Crimp’s Caligula,
Mark Lamos’ Twelfth Night, and David Lee’s Present Laughter. In America Tilly’s work has been seen
at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Two Rivers Theatre
Company, Trinity Repertory Company, New World
Stages, La Ma Ma, Clubbed Thumb, Here Arts Centre, New Georges, Ars Nova and Theatre Row New
York. Tilly has been a guest artist and guest designer
at The Juilliard School, New York University, Fordham University, PPAS in NYC and Trinity College
Dublin. Tilly is co-artistic director of London/Parisian Theatre Company ‘SavageCharm’. She received
her M.F.A from NYU Tisch School and teaches at
Brown University’s directing MFA program.
Solomon Weisbard (Lighting Design)'s selected
credits include Stones in his Pockets (Yale Rep), Lion in
Winter, A Class Act (Berkshire Theatre Group), White’s
Lies (New World Stages); The Film Society (Keen Co.
/ Theatre Row), I Came to Look for You on Tuesday
(La Mama),Rite of Spring (Martha Graham Dance
Co.), Christina Anderson’s Hollow Roots (Public
Theatre Under the Radar), Agamemnon (11th Hour
/ La Mama); Faust, The Barber of Seville (Tri-Cities
Opera); 9 to 5, A Chorus Line, All Shook Up (MerryGo-Round Playhouse); Frank London’s A Night in
the Old Marketplace (Merkin Hall and international
tour); What of the Night, St. Joan of the Stockyards
(Barnard College). Original full-length dance/movement pieces with Alethea Adsitt, Jennifer Archibald,
Julian Barnett (set), Ximena Garnica/Leimay, Lane
Gifford, Ofelia Loret de Mola/danscores (set and
lighting), The Nerve Tank (set and lighting), Patrick
Lovejoy, Stefanie Nelson (set and lighting), WaxFactory (as featured in American Theatre magazine),
and three new works as associate set designer with
renowned choreographer Bill T. Jones. He is a graduate of Ithaca College and the Yale School of Drama.
www.solweisbard.com
Obadiah Eaves (Sound Design) has lost count of
the number of productions he has designed at Todd
Theater over the past eighteen years, but thinks it's
more than thirty. His work has appeared on Broadway in The Assembled Parties; Harvey; A Life In The
Theatre; Collected Stories; Accent On Youth; Come Back,
Little Sheba; The Lieutenant of Inishmore; and Shining City. He created music and sound for the original productions of works by David Mamet, Woody
Allen, Eric Bogosian, Ethan Coen, and Suzan-Lori
Parks. Other recent Off-Broadway and regional
work includes The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom
Durnin; If There Is, We Haven't Found It Yet (Roundabout); Oblivion (Westport Country Playhouse);
and The Total Bent (Public). Awards: Lortel, Viv, and
BACC awards. TV: HBO, Nickelodeon, Discovery,
TLC, History Channel; also Fisher-Price toys.
cast
a female narrator who is heard but not seen .... patricia lewis
a man who makes movements while she speaks .... charles lehner
the very young girl .... zoe netter
the mother .... ellen swanson
the father .... travis j. kohler
the stepmother .... kathryn loveless
the big sister .... halle burns
the little sister .... leah mould
the fairy .... giulia perucchio
the very young prince .... shane r. saxton
the king .... david libbey
two guards (and others) .... alberto carrillo casas & nathan contino
It is grown people who make the nursery stories; all children do, is jealously preserve the text.
Robert Louis Stevenson
cinderella in the european tradition
T
he Cinderella story is one of the most widely
known fairytales. Versions of it are found
throughout the world and appear in many
forms. The one that has permeated today's popular
culture finds its origins in Charles Perrault's tale Cendrillon, ou la petite pantoufle de verre (Cinderella, or the
Little Glass Slipper) which was first published in Histoires ou contes du temps passé (Stories or Fairy Tales from
Past Times) in 1697. In this version of the story, Cinderella’s father remarries a woman with two daughters,
who force Cinderella to do menial chores all day and
night, after which she curls up in her barren room by
the fireplace, resulting in her face and body getting
covered in cinders. When the rest of the family leaves
for a ball hosted by the Prince, Cinderella begins to
cry. Her fairy godmother magically appears and casts
a spell for Cinderella to go to the ball, turns a pumpkin
into a carriage, mice into horses, a rat into a coachman,
lizards into footmen, and Cinderella’s rags into a beautiful gown and pair of glass slippers. She warns Cinderella that the spell will break at midnight and that
she must return before then. At the ball, the Prince
becomes entranced by Cinderella, and in her haste to
return home before midnight, Cinderella loses one of
her glass slippers. The Prince travels around the kingdom, trying the shoe on all women to see who it fits
in order to locate the slipper’s owner. The stepmother
and stepsisters try to interfere and win the Prince over
before he can try the slipper on Cinderella, but when
he finally does so, the slipper fits perfectly. She marries
the prince and grants her stepsisters forgiveness for all
their cruelty.
This tale, however, is far from the only version or variation of Cinderella which exists. The earliest published Cinderella tale found in Europe appeared
in Italy as a part of Giambattista Basile’s Pentamerone
(Day 1, Tale 6), published in 1634, called "La Gatta
Cenerentola" or Cat Cinderella. In this tale a young
girl named Zezolla, the only daughter of a Prince,
plots with her governess to kill her stepmother, and
succeeds in doing so by having the lid of a chest fall on
the stepmother, crushing her neck. The Prince then
told him to look at the blood pouring forth.
That is the way with amputations.
They just don't heal up like a wish.
The prince was looking for a wife.
The other sister cut off her heel
but the blood told as blood will.
The prince was getting tired.
He began to feel like a shoe salesman.
But he gave it one last try.
This time Cinderella fit into the shoe
like a love letter into its envelope.
At the wedding ceremony
the two sisters came to curry favor
and the white dove pecked their eyes out.
Two hollow spots were left
like soup spoons.
Cinderella and the prince
lived, they say, happily ever after,
like two dolls in a museum case
never bothered by diapers or dust,
never arguing over the timing of an egg,
never telling the same story twice,
never getting a middle-aged spread,
their darling smiles pasted on for eternity.
Regular Bobbsey Twins.
That story.
in search of cinderella
cinderella
by sylvia plath
The prince leans to the girl in scarlet heels,
Her green eyes slant, hair flaring in a fan
Of silver as the rondo slows; now reels
Begin on tilted violins to span
The whole revolving tall glass palace hall
Where guests slide gliding into light like wine;
Rose candles flicker on the lilac wall
Reflecting in a million flagons' shine,
And glided couples all in whirling trance
Follow holiday revel begun long since,
Until near twelve the strange girl all at once
Guilt-stricken halts, pales, clings to the prince
As amid the hectic music and cocktail talk
She hears the caustic ticking of the clock.
by shel silverstein
From dusk to dawn,
From town to town,
Without a single clue,
I seek the tender, slender foot
To fit this crystal shoe.
From dusk to dawn,
I try it on
Each damsel that I meet.
And I still love her so, but oh,
I've started hating feet.
george méliès's cendrillon, 1899
cinderella
by anne sexton
You always read about it:
the plumber with the twelve children
who wins the Irish Sweepstakes.
From toilets to riches.
That story.
Or the nursemaid,
some luscious sweet from Denmark
who captures the oldest son's heart.
from diapers to Dior.
That story.
Or a milkman who serves the wealthy,
eggs, cream, butter, yogurt, milk,
the white truck like an ambulance
who goes into real estate
and makes a pile.
From homogenized to martinis at lunch.
Or the charwoman
who is on the bus when it cracks up
and collects enough from the insurance.
From mops to Bonwit Teller.
That story.
Once
the wife of a rich man was on her deathbed
and she said to her daughter Cinderella:
Be devout. Be good. Then I will smile
down from heaven in the seam of a cloud.
The man took another wife who had
two daughters, pretty enough
but with hearts like blackjacks.
Cinderella was their maid.
She slept on the sooty hearth each night
and walked around looking like Al Jolson.
Her father brought presents home from town,
jewels and gowns for the other women
but the twig of a tree for Cinderella.
She planted that twig on her mother's grave
and it grew to a tree where a white dove sat.
Whenever she wished for anything the dove
would drop it like an egg upon the ground.
The bird is important, my dears, so heed him.
Next came the ball, as you all know.
It was a marriage market.
The prince was looking for a wife.
All but Cinderella were preparing
and gussying up for the event.
Cinderella begged to go too.
Her stepmother threw a dish of lentils
into the cinders and said: Pick them
up in an hour and you shall go.
The white dove brought all his friends;
all the warm wings of the fatherland came,
and picked up the lentils in a jiffy.
No, Cinderella, said the stepmother,
you have no clothes and cannot dance.
That's the way with stepmothers.
Cinderella went to the tree at the grave
and cried forth like a gospel singer:
Mama! Mama! My turtledove,
send me to the prince's ball!
The bird dropped down a golden dress
and delicate little slippers.
Rather a large package for a simple bird.
So she went. Which is no surprise.
Her stepmother and sisters didn't
recognize her without her cinder face
and the prince took her hand on the spot
and danced with no other the whole day.
As nightfall came she thought she'd better
get home. The prince walked her home
and she disappeared into the pigeon house
and although the prince took an axe and broke
it open she was gone. Back to her cinders.
These events repeated themselves for three days.
However on the third day the prince
covered the palace steps with cobbler's wax
and Cinderella's gold shoe stuck upon it.
Now he would find whom the shoe fit
and find his strange dancing girl for keeps.
He went to their house and the two sisters
were delighted because they had lovely feet.
The eldest went into a room to try the slipper on
but her big toe got in the way so she simply
sliced it off and put on the slipper.
The prince rode away with her until the white dove
marries Zezolla's governess, who turns out to be worse
than the first stepmother, pampering her own six
daughters and forcing Zezolla to reside in the kitchen
and work as a servant. Her father returns from one
of his many trips abroad with a seedling date tree.
Zezolla plants the seedling, which quickly grows into
a tree the size of a woman; it has a fairy living inside it.
The fairy gives Zezolla everything she asks for, including coaches and dresses to attend the King's parties,
where the King takes notice of her and sends a servant
to follow her and discover her identity. Zezolla successfully is able to outwit the servant until her third
escape when, in her anxiety to leave, she drops one of
her shoes. The King then orders a search for the owner
of the shoe, and when he approaches Zezolla with the
shoe, it darts out of his hands and onto her foot on its
own accord. The King makes Zezolla his queen.
Another notable version of the Cinderella
story appears in Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s collection Children’s and Household Tales, published in 1812,
where she is known by the name Aschenputtel. In this
tale, Aschenputtel's widowed father marries a woman
with two daughter of her own. The stepmother and
stepsisters charge Aschenputtel with picking peas and
lentils out of the ashes in the kitchen. Grieving over
her dead mother, Aschenputtel plants a hazel tree over
the grave of her mother. The tree grows, and a little
white bird perches on it. The bird brings Aschenputtel
anything she wishes, including a gold and silver dress
in order to attend the king's three-day festival. Each
day of the festival, the prince is enamored of Aschenputtel, but she runs off before he can escort her home.
On the third day, the prince smears a staircase with
pitch to trap her, but the result is only partially successful: only one of Aschenputtel's shoes gets stuck.
The prince announces that he will marry whomever
the shoe fits. The elder and younger stepsisters, given
the opportunity to try on the shoe, cut off their big toe
and heel respectively to make it fit, but both times the
prince is warned of their deceit by a pair of pigeons.
The prince finally tries the shoe on Aschenputtel. It
fits perfectly. At the wedding, the pigeons that sit
on Aschenputtel's shoulders peck out the eyes of the
stepsisters.
china: yeh hsien
hodopis
egypt: r
the international cinderella
I
t is not possible to pinpoint the origin of Cinderella as
it originated from the oral tradition of folklore and has
appeared across the globe in almost every culture. The
specifics of the story change with every different telling, but the underlying morality and themes remain the
same, adapted to fit the culture in which they originate.
One of the oldest records of a Cinderella tale is the story of Rhodopis (“rosy-cheeked”) which was chronicled
by the Greek historian Strabo around 1st century BC.
This version tells the story a Greek slave, Rhodopis, who
is sold to work in an Egyptian household. Rhodopis is
teased by the other servant girls for her light-colored
eyes and fair complexion, and so is treated harshly and
made to do more work than anyone else. When she's
on her own, Rhodopis dances, which her master sees
and likes. He gives her a pair of rose-gilded slippers,
making the other servant girls jealous. The Pharaoh
then holds a celebration in Memphis, which the other
servant girls prevent Rhodopis from attending by giving
her a long list of chores to complete. Washing clothes
by the river, the god Horus, in falcon form, swoops
down and grabs one of her slippers. He then carries the
slipper to the Pharaoh and drops it onto his head. The
Pharaoh, recognizing this as a sign from the god, seeks
out the owner of the slipper in order to marry her. Rhodopis tries to hide from the Pharaoh when he arrives
at her house, but he sees her and asks her to try on the
slipper. The slipper fits onto her foot and she produces
the other slipper to prove that they are, in fact, her slippers, after which the Pharaoh declares he will marry her.
Other notable versions include Yeh-Hsien
from China which was published in the 9th century
compilation, Micellaneous Morsels from Youyang, Rashin
Coatie, a Scottish fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in
More English Fairy Tales, and Kongji in the story Kongji
and Patzzi from Korea which dates from the Joseon Dynasty. Cinderella exists in many forms from every corner of the globe, from Creole stories to Russian fables.
lundi matin
(or the song the little girl sings)
Lundi matin,
L'emp'reur, sa femme et le p'tit prince
Sont venus chez moi
Pour me serrer la pince
Comm' j'étais parti
Le p'tit prince a dit
Puisque c'est ainsi
Nous reviendrons mardi.
On Monday morning
The emperor, his wife and the little prince,
Came to my house
To shake my hand.
Since I had left,
The little prince said,
"Since this is how it is,
We'll come back on Tuesday."
Mardi matin,
L'emp'reur, sa femme et le p'tit prince
Sont venus chez moi
Pour me serrer la pince
Comm' j'étais parti
Le p'tit prince a dit
Puisque c'est ainsi
Nous reviendrons mercredi.
On Tuesday morning
The emperor, his wife and the little prince,
Came to my house
To shake my hand.
Since I had left,
The little prince said,
"Since this is how it is,
We'll come back on Wednesday."
Mercredi matin,
L'emp'reur, sa femme et le p'tit prince
Sont venus chez moi
Pour me serrer la pince
Comm' j'étais parti
Le p'tit prince a dit
Puisque c'est ainsi
Nous reviendrons jeudi.
On Wednesday morning
The emperor, his wife and the little prince,
Came to my house
To shake my hand.
Since I had left,
The little prince said,
"Since this is how it is,
We'll come back on Thursday."
...
...
Dimanche matin,
L'emp'reur, sa femme et le p'tit prince
Sont venus chez moi
Pour me serrer la pince
Comm' j'étais parti
Le p'tit prince a dit
Puisqu'il n'y est plus
Nous ne reviendrons plus.
On Sunday morning
The emperor, his wife and the little prince,
Came to my house
To shake my hand.
Since I had left,
The little prince said,
"Since she's not here anymore,
We won't come back again."
the many names of cinderella
Cendrillon (France) c Finette (France) c Donkey Skin (France) c Aschenputtel (Germany)
Allerleirauh (Germany) c Zezolla (Italy) c Preziosa (Italy) c Katie Woodencloak (Norwegian)
Rhodopis (Egypt) c Yeh-Hsien (China) c Bawang Merah (Malaysia) c Bawang Putih (Indonesia)
Abadeha (Philippines) c Tam (Vietnam) c Kao (Thailand) c Kongjwi (Korea) c Pear Blossom (Korea)
c Chinye (West Africa) c Little Cat Skin (United States) c Settareh (Persia) c Angkat (Cambodia) c
Cinduri (India) c Mossycoat (England) c Rashin Coatie (Scotland) c Cap-o’-Rushes (England) c
Oona (Ireland) c Vasilisa (Russia)
scotland: rash
in coatie
korea: kongji
adaptations
C
inderella has been adapted many times for the stage and screen. In 1950, Walt Disney
Animation Studios produced Cinderella, based on the Perrault telling of Cendrillon and
released by RKO Radio Pictures. The animated feature was directed by Clyde Geronimi,
Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson; the songs were written by Mack David, Jerry Livingston, and Al Hoffman. There are two direct-to-video sequels released by Disney, Cinderella II:
Dreams Come True (2002) and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time (2007).
A musical version of Cinderella, also based on the Perrault tale, with music by Richard
Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II aired on CBS in 1957. This television
musical was first performed on stage in 1958 at the London Coliseum and first appeared in U.S.
theatres by 1961.
Other notable adaptations include a pantomime stage production which debuted at
the Drury Lane Theatre in 1904; La Cenerentola, an 1817 opera by Gioachino Rossini; Mr.
Cinders, a musical which premiered at the Adelphi Theatre in 1929, with music by Vivian Ellis
and Richard Myers, and a libretto by Clifford Grey and Greatorex Newman.
C
harles Perrault (1628-1703) was a French author and is most wellknown for turning folk tales into what we now know as the genre of
fairy tales. His best known tales are Le Petit Chaperon rouge (Little
Red Riding Hood), Cendrillon (Cinderella), Le Chat Botté (Puss in Boots),
La Belle au bois dormant (The Sleeping Beauty), and La Barbe bleue (Bluebeard). Many of his works have since been adapted into plays, musicals, operas, ballets, and more.
the evil stepmother
T
he role of the evil stepmother in fairytales,
especially in Cinderella, is an archetype that,
when read from a psychoanalytical perspective, stems from what is known as the pubertal
child’s “family romance.” This fantasy emerges as a
child grows up and her once saintly mother begins
to discipline her. With this shift in relationship, the
child divides these two maternal characters into two
different beings: the good mother and the imposter or false mother. This daydream of the pubertal
child gets physically represented in a fairytale with
the separation between the good mother (normally
dead) and the evil stepmother who is seen as cruel
for denying the child something she wants, just as
a disciplining mother would. The mother and the
stepmother in these tales exhibit exaggerated qualities of good and bad, mirroring the binary in which
young children view the world-either it is perfect or
it is the worst imaginable. This separation into the
good and evil provides the child with an outlet to
feel anger towards the false parent without feeling
guilt about endangering the true parent, since they
are viewed as completely separate entities. These
types of fantasies typically appear within children
who already exhibit guilt as a part of their personality make-up. This break between the good and the
bad within the mother also raises hope in the child
for a “happily ever after” ending where the real parent
will reappear. Until then however, the child is seen to
be in a "Cinderella" existence: one of innocent virtue,
living among the ashes of maternal discipline.
the fairy godmother
T
he figure of a fairy godmother has become a
staple of the Cinderella story, thanks to the
popularity of Perrault’s tale. The fairy godmother acts as a mentor or parent to the protagonist and has been interpreted to be a reincarnation
of the dead mother figure or even a projection of
the protagonist’s psyche. The fairy godmother, with
her magical powers, offers advice and helps our hero,
providing her with the love and support missing
from her current parental figure.
moral (from perrault's cinderella)
Moral: Beauty in a woman is a rare treasure that will always be admired. Graciousness, however, is priceless
and of even greater value. This is what Cinderella’s godmother gave to her when she taught her to behave like a
queen. Young women, in the winning of a heart, graciousness is more important that a beautiful hairdo. It is a
true gift of the fairies. Without it nothing is possible; with it, one can do anything.
Another moral: Without doubt it is a great advantage to have intelligence, courage, good breeding, and
common sense. These, and similar talents come only from heaven, and it is good to have them. However, even
these may fail to bring you success, without the blessings of a godfather or a godmother.