This time last year I was blown away by Kneehigh’s collaboration with Little Angel Theatre on their production A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings. It was one of the best pieces of theatre I’d seen all year and a perfect antidote to many underwhelming Christmas offerings out there.

So with a hop and a skip I bounded into the Grand Hall ready to be blown away by the company’s retelling of the classic Cinderella tale. Told in the round, they have created a gig-like atmosphere for their interpretation of a panto complete with slutty Ugly Sisters and a dame in the form of electric guitar-wielding James Traherne.

Cinderella is called Midnight, but apart from that the story is pretty much the same as ever. There is a chorus of amusing mice to help her on her journey to woo the prince and a giant Pumpkin watching over her. It’s all a lot of messy fun, and the performers seem to be having a whale of a time with slapstick routines, teaching line dancing routines to an audience who have dressed themselves up during the first of two intervals in Kneehigh’s dressing-up shed, and generally cavorting unabashedly for the two-plus hours. In particular, Phil Brodie, as the conceited Prince, steals the show (although I’m not sure Midnight would actually fall for the very unlovable character he hilariously depicts).

What’s missing is the Kneehigh attention to detail, and the magical and moving imagery that sets them apart as leaders of the physical theatre world. It’s not until near the very end when Midnight returns to dance with the prince that we get a taste of this. Here, Audrey Brisson’s Midnight dances a mesmerising hoop routine dressed in a beautiful midnight blue dress, captivating both the prince and us.

A few more of these moments and a good third of the show edited out and we’d have a Christmas cracker on our hands. As it stands the songs are overlong, the choreography underdeveloped, and, despite committed and comical performances, the show left me cold. Still, it’s hard not to have fun, but I’d recommend holding out to the New Year when A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings opens for two weeks at BAC – that’s where you’ll find the magic.