Appropriately for a theatre buried beneath a library, the Library Theatre has a fine tradition of unearthing a children's literary classic every Christmas. These are shows you can depend upon for outstanding storytelling and inventive stagecraft, which speak directly to children without talking down to them.
Roger Haines's production of Philippa Pearce's story sticks to its principles while principally using sticks. As the company's ensemble-work demonstrates, there are many wonderful uses for walking sticks. They can suggest swords, scaffolding or prison bars. They may become creepy, arachnid arm-extensions, perfect for prodding beastly little children. They even come in handy as a mobility aid.
Haines populates the action with a sinister, shuffling crowd of grey commuters, who suddenly shrug off their overcoats to enact a scene, then up sticks and move on to the next. Much of the credit for this must belong to movement director Liam Steel. The last time I saw a similar device used so effectively was in a production by the radical Romanian director Silviu Purcarete, which indicates the calibre of artistry that the Library Theatre believes young people deserve.
The narrative has a complexity to match the visual language. Pearce's story is as intricate a chronological experiment as any of the great time-puzzles of Alan Ayckbourn or JB Priestley. Whenever the clock strikes 13, Tom, from the 1950s, finds himself transported to a parallel dimension in the Victorian era.
In this earlier world, Tom can see his delightful playmate Hatty, though nobody else can see him. Hatty's cousins have a little dog who they can see, but we can't - so you can see how confusing this rapidly becomes.
The triumph of the production is that it patiently works towards a complex resolution without ever forfeiting the attention of its young audience. There is also much fine acting to keep one absorbed, not least the openly committed performances of Ben Elliot and Kirsten Parker as Tom and Hatty. David Woods's adaptation is fairly long, but the time positively flies by. Just don't ask me in which direction it is flying.
· Until January 25. Box office: 0161-236 7110.
