A beautiful bit of storytelling, is how Kirstie Davis, Forest Forge Theatre Company’s artistic director, describes Ashputtel – The Cinderella Story, which starts its seasonal touring schedule tonight to village halls and community centres in the area.

Adapted by the theatre’s designer and associate David Haworth from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Ashputtel is a far cry from the pantomime Cinderella with its larger than life characters such as the ugly sisters.

Kirstie, pictured, explains why she chose to produce Ashputtel: “I think Ashputtel is the best Christmas story there is and the one that fascinates me the most,” she says. “It is about identity and growing up, a real coming of age, following the seasons of the year and beginning and ending in wintertime. The story makes for a lovely family show.”

Kirstie uses five actor musicians to tell Ashputtel’s story, and there isn’t a fairy in sight. Ashputtel plants a twig by her mother’s grave that grows to become a magic tree that cannot be chopped down. “The magic of the story is that the tree is her mother looking out for her,” says Kirstie. “It really is a beautifully inventive tale.”

And while there are two stepsisters in the story, they are not ugly on the outside, only the inside and make Ashputtel ugly by covering her with ash, hence her name.

A musical instrument represents each character, for example the violin is really the prince, and the cello is her mother. The production also features puppets created by River People and costumes made by students of the Costume with Performance Design degree course at the Arts University College, Bournemouth.

Rebecca Applin returns as musical director and choreographer Junior Jones also join the creative team.

The show tours to Mottisfont village tomorrow night and Trafalgar School in Downton next Wednesday. For a full listing of the tour, which runs until Saturday, January 16, visit forestforge.co.uk.