Cinders

Synopsis

A stark, gray reformatory in Communist Poland. Young girls in drab uniforms rehearse Cinderella, their attempts at fairy-tale magic contrasting sharply with the grim reality surrounding them

In a girls’ reform school, the classic Cinderella story becomes a dark reflection of life under totalitarianism. As the girls prepare their production, a filmmaker arrives, ostensibly to document their rehabilitation. His true agenda – to manipulate the girls into revealing raw, exploitable emotions – sets off a chain of events that exposes the brutal nature of their confinement. The girl playing Cinderella becomes a focal point of resistance, her defiance met with escalating punishment from both the filmmaker and school authorities.

Janusz Głowacki’s Cinders is a biting satire that subverts fairy tale tropes to illuminate the oppressive mechanics of a totalitarian state. Through its blend of Kafkaesque absurdity and stark realism, the play explores how power corrupts and dehumanises both the oppressors and the oppressed. Głowacki’s use of the play-within-a-play structure serves to highlight the performative nature of life under constant surveillance, where authenticity becomes dangerous. As the line between reality and performance blurs, Cinders offers a scathing critique of propaganda, state control, and the crushing of individual spirit, all while maintaining a dark, unsettling humour that amplifies its impact.