Rufus Norris understands fairy tales. His version of the famous tale draws on earlier retellings and also creates something completely new. It is full of magic and farts, danger and kissing, sudden death and belly laughs. It is oral in every way. It is not prissy and precious, yet it looks ravishing: a miniature version of the sleeping beauty's palace hangs in the air like a golden mirage; metal chains entwined with fairy lights fall from the ceiling. It sums up a show that is steely and delicate at the same time.
It is the characters who are so great here: Goody, a punk fairy, played with enormous zest by Helena Lymbery, who can't do spells without creating bad smells and who, riled by the rude, snobby Queen, places a curse on the little princess, then spends more than 100 years trying to undo it; a prince who likes hunting but not kissing; a mother-in-law for Beauty who is also an ogress and intent on gobbling up her own grandchildren. Daniel Cerqueira is astonishing in a role that might have merely been panto dame but which he imbues with the tragedy of a woman who knows her true nature and cannot resist human flesh.
As you might have gathered, this is not your average jolly family night-out at a Christmas show, although I think only over-anxious parents will find it too much to stomach. The latter, darker half that concentrates on Beauty's attempt to save herself and her children from the clutches of the Ogress Queen is like an extended version of one of those chase and tickle games you play with your children in which laughter and fear are intermingled. If it lost 15 minutes it would be better still, but this is a show that's a real meal not just a quickly forgotten snack.
· Until January 11. Box office: 0845 120 7550.
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