Cinderella and Frankenstein's Monster Are Dead at theSpaceTriplex Review
A teenage girl lies on the stage reading, as the lights brighten, she tells of her life since moving to Tampa, Florida, her parents wanting her to have the best education possible, she decides to try out for her school’s production of Grimm’s Fairytales as Cinderella, but as the audition gets closer and closer, her mind races with memories of her host family’s grandmother, who also grew up in China before moving to America, gaining citizenship and starting a family.
The piece balances the girl’s devotion to her language and ancestry with the normality of being a high school student, still trying to figure themselves out. The stories of Cinderella and Frankenstein’s Monster stand out without ever feeling like they take over the show in its entirety, serving as vehicles to examine aspects of the character and how people seeing her in different lights can alter their views.
Lan Jiang plays teenager Zhao Lan with a lightness, her movements swift but delicate, and performed to a small audience with the grace and power she would if it were full. I will say I was a little lost on the reasoning behind some prop decision, there were a handful of books and paper scattered across the stage at any time but their purpose for being moved never really felt explained. There was also the unfortunate issue of people either in the corridor or another room which was very loud with talking and cheering that it did pull me out of the piece a few times, then in turn struggling to reengage. However, this is not a fault of the productions, instead a common issue when multiple fringe shows perform simultaneously with different audio levels.
Nonetheless, Cinderella and Frankenstein’s Monster Are Dead explores the understanding Zhao Lan has of her language, trying to preserve it whilst integrating into Western society as quickly as possible and gain the same opportunities as her classmates.
Cinderella and Frankenstein’s Monster plays at theSpaceTriplex until 29 August.
★★★★
Written by Kerry for Theatre and Tonic, August 2026.
