Mike Kenny is a consistently inventive children's playwright who can be relied on to mould an old classic into an interesting new shape. The twist here is that Beauty is an only child - and a petulant one at that - who turns her nose up at helping with the household chores.
While it is interesting to find the heroine not painted whiter-than-white, excising her greedy sisters seems a self-defeating omission, as it is hard to understand why a temperamental brat would be satisfied with the simple gift of a rose.
More problematic is the fact that the quartet of actors seems short-handed when it comes to conjuring the beast. Gail McIntyre's production hits an awkward hiatus as the cast form a huddle to effect the transformation. Suggesting that the audience talk among themselves is a risky policy - with a crowd of under-sixes, it can be fatal.
That said, Dominic Gately assumes vividly bestial qualities through little more than a ruffled fringe and some aggressive mood swings, which are startling enough to make the front rows squeal.
But though suggestive minimalism can be quite effective on its own terms, it is hard to square on a stage littered with oversized props whose presence takes some explaining. Though it is fun to see Katie Matthew's Beauty draped in a string of pearls the length of a python, there is no obvious rationale for such super-sized jewellery. Perhaps the underdeveloped presence of a dolls' house and miniature puppet versions of the characters is meant to account for the disparities in scale. But the overall effect is to leave the story feeling somewhat diminished.
· Until January 12. Box office: 0113-213 7700.
