Cinderella promises to be a crowd pleaser

| Monday October 17, 2011 00:00

'In my story, initially, the lead girl will not be known as Cinderella.  She is the daughter of a widower, who is a soldier in the BDF - until the ugly step-sisters play a nasty trick on her and she inherits the nic-name - Cinderella. In my story, when the time comes for the Fairy godmother (Sangoma) to transform the traditional pumpkin into a white horse and carriage, as in the European version of the story, our Gaborone Cinderella will be going to the ball in a ......' Aldo stops with a cheeky grin on his face, 'well I don't want to give away too much of how fun and exciting our production will be.  Come buy a ticket and see for yourself!'

Aldo also promises to use modern technologies in the production along with contemporary music and dance.  The aim is to give audiences real value for money when it comes to a live show, his vision is to make audiences laugh and feel really great, and to offer a show that will be remembered long after it's over.

'I wrote the production over a period of a week and I am very satisfied with the final script.  There are lots of twists and turns and I know the audience will be riveted by the collection of characters and the new story lines I have developed'.

Cinderella ranks amongst the world's top fairytales, with almost every culture in the world boasting their own version of the virtuous girl who goes from Rags to Riches in the blink of a magical eye.

Coupled with that, Aldo will be adding his usual rip-roaring dollops  of audience participation, magical illusions and that WOW factor that has become synonymous with all Aldo's works here in Botswana. Aldo also hints on extra treats for audiences, especially little kids.

'In all my life as a professional actor and producer, I have specialised in original productions.  All my work reflects and celebrates, in one way or another, living on the continent of Africa, and what it means to be an African',  says Brincat, the director and producer of the up-coming Cinderella.

'I could not settle on a story line for my December production that uniquely was Batswana and universal at the same time.  I wanted something for our kids to enjoy too.  Eventually, I explored things the other way around - a universal story that can be easily turned into a Botswana situation.  I have seen many productions of Cinderella and I realised in a flash that it would be a perfect, gentle and fun production for all kinds of families to see over this coming Christmas holiday.

In the five years that Aldo worked at Maru-a-Pula Secondary as Head Of Department of Drama, he produced critically acclaimed works such as Fine Women Of Jazz - Botswana; Sarafina; Twenty Thebe Love; Kgosi, The Moon & The Baboon; Love & Death On Kgale Hill; The Moiste Cake, and his final production of 2010, was entitled Light, which was commissioned for The President's Concert.