I was utterly horrified by Oxford Playhouse's panto this year, Cinderella. I haven't been to many pantos as an adult, but went 3 years ago to their production of Robin Hood, which was absolutely fantastic in every way. This was not. From the moment the curtains opened it was clear the budget for this was very low. The costumes were mostly awful. There were some exceptions – the evil stepmother and ugly sisters' were excellent, Buttons' mouse costume was cute - but in general I saw higher quality costumes at my niece's nativity play.

There was a lot of singing, mostly of music from the 70s and 80s, which my 8 year niece didn't recognise, with some more recent exceptions. This was a problem for a cast where only two members (Cinders and the Cat) stood out as good singers. Almost every famous melody was modified, which seemed to miss the whole point of choosing a good tune in the first place whilst highlighting the inadequacy of the singers. There seemed to be only 2 original pieces of music, one of which perplexingly was chosen for the sing-a-long.

Cinderella in this interpretation is not a small girl, which I thought was novel and refreshing until she opened her mouth as almost the first thing she said was "I can't eat that - I'm on a diet" and went on to explain repeatedly throughout the production that she was "too fat". Words cannot begin to describe the fury this inspired in me! Children are getting more body conscious and the last thing we should be doing is reinforcing this.

I can see what they're trying to do here, but why on earth could they not just cast her and then have everyone tell her she's beautiful (which she is)? This would be a really positive approach; instead they made a big deal about her size. I was horrified when at the end of the first half, after Cinderella's outfit is transformed into a beautiful dress she says she can't go to the ball because she is "too fat", the Fairy Godmother says "don't worry…it's all about the bass".

Of course they then sang "It's all about that bass" with some modified words but retained "all the right junk in all the right places" and "boom boom that all the boys chase" and other inappropriate lyrics for this context. I sat there cringing and hoping my niece wouldn't understand it. The apotheosis was at the end when Cinderella shook her generous tush at the audience and other cast members pointed at it – I think this is what happened anyway, because by this point I had covered my face with my hands. In a similar vein, the cat was for some reason in a skin tight leotard and I can only assume this was chosen over something cute and fluffy in order to make the extremely sexually suggestive movements of the actress more apparent. I appreciate that pantos have a strong tradition of innuendo but this was all a bit much; the level of sexual content was not at all appropriate for a young audience. What is more, the importance of maintaining a particular body shape which men find attractive (whatever its size) is not the message I want my niece taking home from the pantomime.

The best bits were the traditional panto back and forth and the ugly step sisters, who were great, with some good gags which were hard to catch sometimes, as they were rattled off a bit too quickly. Buttons was charming. My niece seemed to enjoy it, and I only hope that most of the above went over her head. However, had I known that Cinderella would keep saying "I am too fat" I would not have taken her. Pantos and fairy tales are supposed to applaud inner beauty and goodness– Cinderella is usually a bit of a drip but a hardworking loyal girl who the Prince falls for because of her sweetness and kindness. Not her gigantic bottom. Poor show, Oxford Playhouse. I really expected better.