After the glorious lunacies of Best Behaviour, normal service is resumed at the Polka with a musical version of E B White's classic tale of a mouse living with a New York family in the 1950s. It is traditional children's fare, mildly entertaining, but not exactly theatrically thrilling. Like the Little family themselves, it is all a bit too peachy and decent. But undoubtedly it offers what a lot of family theatre-goers want: something that is not a panto but which has the certainty of the familiar and good, strong production values.
There are some interesting things here: Gemma Fripp's simple design, with its suspended steel ladder, cleverly and effortlessly conjures both New York's subterranean depths and its dizzy heights. You also keep thinking that Annie Wood's production is going to head off into more rewarding areas such as sibling rivalry, and the way that having a child who is different disrupts traditional family structures. Unfortunately, the adaptation - which I would guess dates back a good few years - doesn't allow for such musings or metaphors. It is just too damn busy getting on with its episodic plot.
There are moments of sustained excitement, including the famous race across the Central Park boat pond, which allows for an inventive piece of audience participation in which we get to play the waves. The cast plays animals and humans with equal conviction. But while smaller members of the family will warm to the expertly manipulated Stuart Little puppet and enjoy his heroic antics, the more cynical family members may find young Stuart too cheesy to be true. My lot sang Three Blind Mice very loudly all the way home.
· Until January 24. Box office: 020-8543 4888.
