The Rose Theatre's new Christmas panto, Cinderella The Midnight Princess, is set to challenge people's long-held perceptions of a much loved fairy tale.

Adapted by Charles Way, and directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, Cinderella the Midnight Prince offers a reworking of the old folk tale, first popularised by the French author Charles Perrault.

It's a new twist on a timeless classic, according to the actor playing the lead role, Faye Castelow.

"It's a re-working of the original story," said Faye, who's previous credits include Holby City, Inspector George Gently and The Importance of Being Earnest at the Rose earlier this year.

"It's quite dark and funny, and there's quite a few sad moments. It isn't quite what you'd expect.

"They do live happily ever after, but it's a rocky road getting there."

Set in a European court in 1775, the story follows Cinderella as she struggles to come to terms with the death of her mother.

Estranged from her father, the kingdom is also suffering from an unknown disease, which has left the King bedridden and his subjects miserable.

Then Cinderella meets a boy, who, unbeknown to her, is in fact the Prince. And with the help of her fairy godmother, she gradually turns her life around, and finds everlasting happiness.

"It's a thoughtful, simple story about loss, grief and how you move on and find happiness again," said Faye.

"It's a lovely cast. You always have to be particularly clever about casting a Christmas panto, because you're spending 200 hours a week with each other rehearsing. We've got a really good mix of older and younger, boys and girls."

Having appeared at The Rose before, Faye said she was looking forward to spending Christmas in Kingston. She said: "I wanted to do it primarily because of Rachel Kavanaugh. She's got a real vision and I think it will be beautiful.And The Rose has been great - they look after you well."