A familiar fairy tale. A suspiciously familiar cast. A distinctly Reading night out.
Born at The Retreat. Brought to the stage at The Butler. Cinderella takes a turn through Reading’s pubs, with extravagant costumes, questionable behaviour and a welly that has some explaining to do.
Opening night countdown
How it started
Pubs produce some magnificent ideas. Most disappear by breakfast. This one survived.
Through the mockery, the raised eyebrows and the drinking buddies declaring, “That’ll never happen. I’ll eat my hat,” Cinder-Reading somehow became an actual production. With a script. Costumes. Rehearsals. And people expecting us to remember our lines.
Written, cast and crewed by regulars of The Retreat, this is a little piece of Reading taking to the stage. You may know your landlady, bartender or drinking partner rather well. Whether you’re ready to see them like this is another matter.
And if you don’t know any of them, you soon will.
“I’ll eat my hat if that ever happens.”A regular of The Retreat, who now owes us a hat
The story
Oh no you don’t.
Beautiful young Cinders works at The Retreat, where life under landlady Diabola is hardly a fairy tale. Add two very big, very hairy ugly sisters, Huntley and Palmella, and the chances of a quiet evening look slim.
But there’s a festival headliner called Mario Charming, a Fairy Godfather with unexpected powers, and the possibility that Cinders might finally get her moment.
Then midnight approaches. A welly goes missing. And the search takes Mario through Reading’s pubs.
A real-life local tragedy? A great romance? An elaborate excuse to dress up? Come and find out. There may be people you recognise.
Meet the cast
Five familiar faces, looking rather less familiar. Meet the people bringing Cinder-Reading to life.
Tap a portrait to hear from the character.
The supporting cast
Played by Di, The Retreat’s publican
Cinders’ formidable stepmother rules the pub, indulges her daughters and experiments with alarming cocktails. Our own Di embraces the villainy. Booing is positively encouraged.
“Those pickled eggs don’t sell themselves?”
Mario’s agent
Keeping Mario’s career on track requires diplomacy, determination and regular damage control. Regina organises emergency auditions, manages disasters and reluctantly joins the great welly hunt.
“English, please, Mario. We haven’t got subtitles.”
Cinders’ friend
Kindness behind the bar. Buttons sees how badly Cinders is treated and offers practical help, proving that even fairy tales need someone to cover the shift.
An unimpressed talent-show judge with a busy buzzer and very little patience. “I am moved. Mainly towards the exit.”
Glamorous, enthusiastic and determined to find something lovely in everyone, while Simon quietly questions every decision that brought him here.
A swaggering roadie recruited as guest judge, with enough confidence to make further questions seem unnecessary.
A former pub landlord and karaoke veteran. “Back in the pub, they used to clap every time I finished.”
An aspiring star with a devastating backstory involving oat milk, a phone battery and a missing charger.
Other parts: The Narrator · The Taxi Driver · Jamie, The Alehouse bartender · Brian · Alehouse Patrons 1 and 2 · The Mini Bouncer · The Roadman · The Kids in the Queue · The Purple Turtle Bouncer · The Purple Turtle Queue Member · The Butler Bar Girl · The Lyndhurst Barman · The Announcer · Pub regulars and ensemble
Where it began
In this case, Reading’s own “Village”: the streets, pubs and people around The Retreat.
This little pub on St John’s Street has been welcoming drinkers since 1875. Live music and jazz are part of its character, alongside the fiercely contested pickled onion and Bloody Mary competitions. Around here, talent comes in many forms. Some of it comes in jars.
Cinder-Reading grows out of that same spirit: people getting together, putting something on and giving their neighbours something to talk about. The Retreat is where our company comes from. The Butler is where you’ll see what we’ve been up to.
The search for the welly
Our story takes an affectionate, occasionally outrageous trip through Reading’s drinking establishments. The places are real. The behaviour has been considerably embroidered.
The venue
Our stage is at The Butler on Chatham Street, another much-loved part of Reading’s pub and live-music life.
With its historic frontage and connections to Butler’s Wine Merchants, it has plenty of stories of its own. This December, we’re adding one involving a Fairy Godfather, some troublesome sisters and a missing welly.
The Butler
85–91 Chatham Street, Reading RG1 7DS
Performances
Bring your other half. Bring your drinking buddies. Bring the person who said it would never happen.
Tickets
Choose your performance and tickets below, then complete your booking. You can add merchandise and after-party places at checkout.
Questions about your booking? tickets@cinder-reading.co.uk
Merchandise
Limited runs, 50 of each. Add them to your order when you book tickets, and collect them on the night. [Collection details to be confirmed]
Limited to 50Petrol blue, with the masthead and the missing welly.
Sizes L and XL
One run of 50. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
Limited to 50Embroidered, one size, for the morning after.
One run of 50. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
Limited to 50Natural canvas, big enough for a welly.
One run of 50. When they’re gone, they’re gone.
Three designs, free on the bar at The Retreat and The Butler. Pick one up with your pint.
Thank you
A huge thank you to everyone managing lights, sound, stage, costumes, props, marketing, tickets, rehearsals and logistics, and all the jobs nobody realised needed doing until somebody quietly did them.
Special thanks to Connexxions Brand & Media for helping us tell the story and spread the word, and for opening up their wonderful “castle” on Castle Street, opposite Sweeney & Todd. It has served as our rehearsal base, logistics headquarters and somewhere to turn pub conversations into an actual production.
And thank you to The Retreat, The Butler, our fellow pubs and everyone buying a ticket, putting up a poster or cheering us on.
Cinder-Reading is a not-for-profit community production. Once production costs are covered, any remaining funds will go towards the after-party. After all this, we think the team will have earned one.
After-party tickets
Limited to 60 plus groupies!
60 places, booked through the ticket checkout
Sunday 13 December 2026, after the final performance. Free, but booking is required. Open to everyone, whichever night you saw the show.
Book tickets to the after-party
