You might wonder why we need a new version of Kenneth Grahame's classic when Alan Bennett's National Theatre version is still fresh in the memory. I wondered for the entire two-hour length of this show. Still, I suppose that David Conville and David Gooderson's adaptation is clearly aimed more at children than the Bennett version, which, despite its charm, appeals largely to adults who long for a return to Edwardian values and view the weasels as a distinctly lower class of animal.
What this version lacks in theatrical sophistication, it makes up for with pantomime. The horse, the cross-dressing, the washerwoman's strip, the cut-out train and the custard pie delivered as punishment to the chief weasel all hail from that tradition, and the whole show is big, bright and very, very broad.
Even if it lacks a reflective tone, it can still be slow-going as episode follows episode and the ebullient toad triumphs over good sense and the upstart weasels. There are lots of kids on hand to ladle on the charm, which they do with precocious effectiveness, and promising performances particularly Terrence Wilton's bluff badger and Leo Conville's shy Mole; and Carl Davis's music is great.
It's not very taxing, and it is entirely without meaning, but if you want to spend a couple of hours with your kids in the open air on a summer afternoon entering into the pretence that you are by a riverbank, it will serve perfectly well. Just remember that this is one of those outdoor theatrical experiences where what is going on on stage plays second fiddle to the pleasant ambience and the ice cream at the interval. In the end, it just depends whether you think it's worth paying £11 for that.
· Until Aug 21. Box office: 08700 601 811.
