This new version of Beauty and the Beast, written by Liz Lochhead for Theatre Babel, turns its back on most conventions of pantomime. Instead of the brouhaha of audience interaction, ugly sisters and knockabout comic songs, the production goes back to storytelling basics to focus on the essence of a magical, emblematic tale.
On one level, this works beautifully, and it is a relief not to have the story smothered in pantoland cliches. With just four actors, a narrator (Michael Marra) at the piano and the simplest of stagings, it is the strange allure of the narrative itself that is emphasised.
What staging trickery there is is limited to some moments of Alice in Wonderland loveliness (a smiling, speaking clock; dishes of food rising up through the floorboards) and a smattering of Daliesque oddness (a talking chair, a doorknob with moving eyebrows and a Yorkshire accent).
Lochhead doesn't hold back on the sexual subtext of the story, either, playfully alluding to other saucily symbolic fairytales: our Beauty dons a lush velvet cloak straight out of Little Red Riding Hood, while the Beast sports a shock of a blue beard. While there are some exquisitely delicate moments to enjoy in this production, it does have a rather muted feel about it, a lack of dramatic tension.
Though Michael Marra's songs are poetic and evocative - the new score is not unlike a Nick Cave album - they are not involving enough for the younger members of the audience. The actors have to suggest time passing and distance without the aid of scene changes or musical interludes, and only the Beast (Peter Collins) has a sufficiently imposing stage presence to command everyone's attention.
This is a show that makes you want to re-read the fairy story. It is a softly spoken Christmas tale, rather than a festive knees-up, and maybe not the best choice for tiny children. Adults and older children, keen to fathom the world around them, even its beastliness, will get most from Lochhead's new way with old, much-loved words.
· Until December 29. Box office: 0141-552 4267.
