Jane Ahlquist's writing and direction of a new variation of the traditional fairytale Cinderella was a great romp with an eclectic mixture of theatrical styles - pantomime, high drama, dance and more with surprising interludes of chant and drumming. And the ending? It's not this reviewer's job to spoil that little gem - or is it "gems"?

Kodie Woodbridge's (Cinder) Ella was sweet and gentle as one would expect, while Karen Shea's portrayal of ugly sister Pretty and Sarah Waters' contribution as the ugly sibling Snowdrop, were even more outrageous than any I have ever seen on stage or film. If there was a talent scout in the audience we might lose these girls to Hollywood! We haven't seen enough of Julie Reynolds lately so it was a delight to see her on stage as the Fairy Godmother and to hear her sweet soprano.

Lovely dancer and choreographer Bridgette Martin as White Bird provided timely advice, while Jodie Balderson's very spidery Spider and Kaylah Julienne's very cute Mouse gave much needed assistance to the sad and weary Ella together with some efficient scene changing.

John Weeks, Diane West, Richard Stone (poor Bruce!) and Vera Sapov all gave creditable performances (wait till you hear Vera' Russian accent and her talented drumming), while William Verdon, Trish Cooper and Forbes Gordon most probably had enough fun to keep them smiling till their next cameo roles. The children from St Bede's, too many to mention, adorned in Debbie Water's imaginative creations, took us to another place.

There is a page of credits in the Cinder Tales program - costumes, makeup, set pieces, lighting, sound - more proof of the talents lying in wait in the Braidwood community.

Make sure you catch the remaining performances - this production is too good to miss.