Libretto - Nikolai Volkov

Presented with two intervals.

Act I

The storyteller decides to devise a new story for children and adults. His helper, nicknamed Ptashka, tidies their little planet and wards off uninvited guests.
The story of Cinderella, who remains faithful even when she falls on hard times, intrigues Ptashka. To help fire the storyteller’s imagination she agrees to become Cinderella, not least because he promises her a magical reward for playing the part.

The fairytale begins. Cinderella is straight away drawn into a heated row with her new stepfamily. The wicked stepmother and Cinderella’s two ugly stepsisters ensnare her in their tentacles.
The storyteller himself brings round the invitations to the handsome prince’s ball, but not one of them reaches Cinderella.
The wicked stepmother and her daughters are in a hurry to get ready for the ball and hire the most fashionable dance teacher on the planet to teach them the latest steps and airs and graces.
After seeing off her relatives, Cinderella finds consolation for her sadness in the company of her new friends.

The storyteller has not forgotten Cinderella. He asks the little fairies and crows who have settled on his planet to put right the oversight and to dress her for the ball. But he warns her that his magic powers are not unlimited and at five to midnight Cinderella must leave the handsome prince’s palace.

Act II

Cinderella cannot bring herself to make an entrance. She is ready to go back home on her pumpkin, but suddenly the doors of the ballroom open of their own accord in front of her.
Her stepmother and stepsisters are engaged in trying to seduce the handsome prince’s influential friends, but are unable to make a good impression: the stepmother because she has had too much champagne to drink, and the sisters because they are so inept.
At one moment the stepmother almost recognises the mysterious unknown female guest… But thanks to her slow reactions, the storyteller is able to distract her attention in time.

The handsome prince rushes in like a fiery comet. But because of all the court ceremony and guests trying to get the prince’s attention, he is unable to find out who the unknown girl is who has caught his eye.
But the storyteller has foreseen this. He serves everyone for dessert oranges, which have evidently been laced with a magic potion, and many of the guests lose their mind and can no longer even tell where they are.
The handsome prince and Cinderella find an opportunity to go off together on their own.

But of course Cinderella forgets the storyteller’s side of the bargain. As the clock is striking midnight she runs out of the palace in horror and one of her slippers comes off on the stairs.

Act III

The handsome prince is about to take leave of his senses. He demands that all his friends search out Cinderella, but not one foot is petite enough to fit the slipper.
The prince even sends them to another galaxy to unapproachable and revered figures such as silent cinema star the Blue Angel and a world-famous opera Diva. But on seeing each of these goddesses he is haunted by the face of Cinderella.

Still reeling from the effects of the oranges, the stepmother and her daughters return home from the ball. They are breathing fire and ready to fly at each other.
This time Cinderella is no longer ready to pull them apart and to bear all their abuse and insults. She firmly decides to give up her role in this fairytal …but at that moment the prince is brought in, virtually lifeless and stricken with despair.

Unable to look at another foot, he asks to be taken back to the palace as quickly as possible, but suddenly Cinderella appears before him.
The prince is again close to taking leave of his senses, but this time out of happiness. "It is to be a marriage made in heaven, " caw the crows who, now replete and content, turn out to be not so nasty after all.

Cinderella’s fairytale existence continues. The storyteller thanks her for her patience and for playing her part and grants the prince her hand in marriage. They both realise that they will never see each other again.

By Yury Borisov
(Based on the fairytale by Charles Perrault and original ballet scenario by Nikolai Volkov)