The Ash Girl

by Timberlake Wertenbaker

With her mother dead and her father away, the Ash Girl lives huddled deep in the protection of the ashes with her stepmother and two stepsisters. When an invitation to the Ball, addressed to all the daughters of the house, arrives from Prince Amir, Ashie can't believe that she can go too.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Fairy Tales, School

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ash Girl is an interesting twist on the Cinderella story and delves deeper into all of the emotions involved in the age old tale. My school is putting on The Ash Girl this December and I am playing the role of the evil stepmother, so I have been reading the script frequently as of late!

[z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Post-modern Cinderella retelling deals with issues such as body dysmorphia, abuse, eating disorders, abandonment, race, depression, and more. How the classic tale may have impacted the mental health of not just “Cinderella”, or in this case, Ash Girl, but the other characters as well. Prince deals with issues of his own — an overprotective mother, a jealous steward, and a foil to his happy love-plot ending. Seven deadly sins present as forest creatures that haunt and attempt to corrupt the characters.
Overall a very interesting and enjoyable take with an (eventually) happy ending.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly if ur bored i would say read this. Its just so simple and honestly for entertainment purposes.
Wartenbaker tried to like express her thoughts on a few imp social topics but honestly this is just a dark fairy tale lol

[Kelly Gesker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cannot decide if i am just burnt out of fairytale rehashes or I dont like reading plays. I appreciate what the author attempted to do with the seven deadly sins but got tired of being beaten with them.

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

I studied this at AS Level Drama and Theatre so when I was 17. I believe it is a great representation of the 7 deadly sins, presenting to the reader/audience the effects each sin can have. It was also very clever for the author to present them in a well known and loved fairy-tale such as Cinderella, showing us how the sins can and have affect characters we know well. This was an interesting play to perform, I personally played the character "Sadness" so I was able to portray all the misery and pain in the world and in Cinderella's heart. Although the premise of the story is clever and interesting I must admit the outcome was rather boring and cliché. It's just another adaptation of Cinderella and one in which armature
drama students are able to perform. I enjoyed my character and the premise of the 7 deadly sins in the Cinderella world but I would not have chosen this play by choice, due to the over use of Cinderella which has made the story boring and snooze to watch.

[Alina Woodhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful modern adaption of Cinderella. Themes around mental health, love etc. A great coming of age play.

[zola ezard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so similar to Cinderella!

[Cara Patel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit of a weird play which re-wrote the Cinderella story to make commentary on overcoming inner demons and generational trauma.

Normally I’m a fan of weird fiction but this was rather out there. Some of it made me feel quite uncomfortable

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cinderella on antidepressants :(

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This clever yet completely obvious twist on the Cinderella story was entertaining and fun. Dark too. I found it to be very sexualized and not meant for the general child audience.

In my Grade 12 year, the school put on a production of this play. I was cast as Paul.
We had rehearsed for months and the attendance slowly fell apart. I attended every rehearsal, but it finally came with great regret and cowardice by the two female directers (who had to get another teacher to break the news) that the play was being scrapped and there would be no production of any kind that year.

Needless to say there were tears and crushed emotions and feelings. I was pissed and stone.

So I never actually got to appreciate the fullness of the story, but from what I read over the course of the weeks (I had all my lines memorized) it was a fun story.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this adaptation of Cinderella...and I really while I don't think I can produce it technically at my high school next year, is one I want to do in coming years... The monsters battling for the soul of this girl and temptation to hide in fear because it is easier is exactly the type of story teens need to hear... I'd have to tone down the father/lust thing, that's for sure... But really brilliant.

[hklgr · Rating 3 out of 5]

An imaginative, encouraging tale that is an enjoyable parellel to the well-known Cinderella story. It's fast-paced, exciting and adventurous, and most impressively, it holds profound insight about love, human nature and the importance of self-belief and perseverance, and in the simplest and neatest way possible, inserts them into a well-told children's story that will grow into something that is partly forgettable and partly memorable.

[Ariel Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a great play, it's got great characters and a good plot, and Ash Girl is such a character all on her own. How often do we read about characters based off of other characters, but who have so much originality too?

I've read this book once, but I'll be reading it again because in September, my theatre company might be putting on a production of Ash Girl. MIGHT. However, if we do, I'm going to audition for Ash Girl.

Everyone wish me good luck and read this book!!!!

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Ash Girl" is a stage play by Timberlake Wertenbaker. It is an original retelling of the familiar Cinderella story, with the inclusion of the seven deadly sins as characters. Extraneous devices like this add both humor and emotional complexity but I think they make the Cinderella story itself less robust. One particularly weak point for me is the backstory about Cinderella's father.

[Millie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great re-telling of the classical fairy tale. Wertenbaker explores a number of relevant themes to today's society through beautiful imagery and language. The anthropomorphism of the seven deadly sins is a clever and interesting motif throughout the play.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit didactic but with some nice language and lots of design possibilities.

[reb nvh · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was ok
nothing special lol