Come and enjoy this abridged version of the well-known story where, removed from its original fairy-tale context, comedy and sentiment come together brilliantly: where Cinderella has half-sisters (not step-sisters) and a fairy godfather; and where disguise plays a large part in the fun and in securing the right result. And there is no glass slipper! When this opera was written by Rossini in 1817 for Parisian audiences, exposing a lady’s ankle on stage was strictly forbidden, so identical bracelets are used instead.

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Shoestring Opera was founded by Claire Evans, who has spent much of her life gathering singers and players together to perform operas - at least ten different ones – in any number of enchanting but often unexpected places. We are certainly following her example in this last respect as we prepare for our performance of La Cenerentola on the terrace at Limekiln for the opening of the Ripe Village Festival on June 23rd 2018. Since Claire retired it is an honour for me to have taken over Shoestring Opera and also a pleasure and very reassuring to have three of the original Shoestring team with me for this performance. We are joined by a group of highly talented singers, each of whom brings their own brand of skills and enthusiasm to the production.

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Abridged, directed and accompanied by Diana Bickley