Families and school groups are invited to attend ZACH Theatre‘s children’s play, Cenicienta, playing on the Whisenhunt Stage through Sunday, May 31. Our content manager, Heidi, had the chance to see this new bilingual adaptation of Cinderella. Read all about her experience below. And scroll to the bottom to enter a ticket giveaway!
Most of the time I carefully research events before taking my children. If it’s a play, for example, I have an exhaustive list of questions…I usually want to know how long the show will last, if there will be an intermission for a bathroom break, will there be any scary or dark elements to the show, will it be age-appropriate and engaging enough to hold my youngest child’s attention span, etc., etc. As parents, we want to make the most of our special outings with the kids. So it makes sense to seek answers to all of our questions — usually.
But today was different. I took my five-year-old son and his friend to see Cenicienta at ZACH Theatre. I did zero research. I knew only two things going in:
- Every children’s show I’ve ever seen at ZACH Theatre is of such a high quality. And their family shows are always engaging.
- The star of this show is Gricelda Silva, who is so fantastic in anything I’ve ever seen her in (which quite frankly has been a LOT of kids shows in Austin in the past few years).
So, with only that limited knowledge, and no worries on my part, the three of us attended Cenicienta. And I am happy to share our experience with you.
The play takes place in a modern basement where a young girl named Belinda resides while her demanding step-mother and step-sisters bark orders to her from upstairs. Belinda is tasked with helping to prepare for a big party that will take place in the house that evening — a party that she is not allowed to attend. Belinda’s current experience parallels that of the classic Cinderella fairy tale, and using an extraordinary amount of imagination and everyday household items, Belinda acts out the Cinderella story, using a napkin as the main character and a tea pot as the fairy godmother in a very creative puppet show. Of course, in Belinda’s version of Cinderella, she gives a modern twist to the end that includes a good dose of female empowerment.
In addition to the puppet play-within-a-play, Cenicienta also tells the story of valuing one’s self-worth and Belinda’s courage to stand up for herself. Early in the show, Belinda notes her love of reading and poetry, especially the works of her favorite writer, Gary Soto. She recites her own special poem about her cherished mother and father. But when she finds out later in the play that Gary Soto is attending the upstairs party to present an award to her step-sister (who pretended to be the author of Belinda’s poem), she is faced with the decision to be brave and speak up for herself in a way she has not done before.
Gricelda Silva, playing Belinda, presents this one-woman show with energy and emotion that captivates the entire audience. Silva speaks both English and Spanish throughout the play, intertwining both languages together in a way that is easy to understand, never making the non-Spanish speakers wonder what words were missed. And Silva’s ability to transform household items into puppet-like characters was mesmerizing.
When I asked my two five-year-old theatre companions what part of the show they liked best, they both noted that they loved when Cinderella put on her magical party dress. (This in real life was just a pretty blue cloth and a napkin ring.) But the way in which Silva presented these items really made them feel like characters in the play.
Now, as for my original questions about taking the kids to the theatre, here are some answers for you…
The play lasts about 50 minutes with no intermission. The kids really enjoyed the show, but I will note that my preschool companions were getting a little wiggly during the last 10 minutes because, as you know, the simple act of sitting still when you’re age 5 can be a challenge.- This play is geared towards ages 5 and up, and I don’t really think it would be well-suited to kids under age 5. (In my opinion, I think ages 7+ might get the most out of it.)
- There is nothing scary in the show. No villainous step-mother. No super-depressing talk of Belinda’s late mother.
- You don’t need to know Spanish to understand the show.
–> Schedule: The show is getting such great reviews that ZACH Theatre has extended its run through Sunday, May 31!
- Saturday, May 23 – 11 a.m., 2 p.m.
- Saturday, May 30 — 2 p.m.
- Sunday, May 31 — 2 p.m.
–> Tickets: Tickets start at $12. You can purchase tickets online here or call 512-476-0541 x 1. For more information, you can visit the ZACH Theatre website.
–> Giveaway! We have a family 4-pack of tickets to give away to the show on Saturday, May 23 at 11 a.m. Enter below. Good luck!
— Click here to enter giveaway on mobile —
