Tracy Beaker - for anyone who does not possess a pre-teen daughter and remains unaware of the phenomenon - is Little Orphan Annie for the Asbo generation: an aggressive but ultimately lovable 11-year-old with a sequence of failed foster relationships, who is repeatedly sent back to the care home she calls "the dumping ground".
Jacqueline Wilson's creation first stormed the libraries, then the airwaves, and is now set to take over the country as her first stage appearance goes out on tour. Mary Morris - who scripted the TV series - has combined the adventures of Beaker with fine, funky music from the bright young stage composer Grant Olding, directed by another ascending talent, David Newman.
With a combination like that you can hardly fail: yet for the first half it feels strangely muted. The main problem is the repetitive nature of the material: Sarah Churm's Tracy doesn't require a social worker so much as a miracle worker, yet her various fall-outs follow a predictable pattern - she gets farmed out, is sent back, and confined to the "quiet room" to reflect on her behaviour.
The show gains momentum in the second half as Tracy's errant mum puts in a belated appearance, just as her daughter appears to have found the forgiving, compassionate foster home she's always been looking for. Suddenly the heroine's pillar-to-post existence seems less like a matter of hardened routine than a devastating emotional limbo.
There's excellent support all round, particularly from Ryan O'Donnell's plaintive Peter, who summarises the foster child's condition as being like pass-the-parcel: "We keep coming back with another layer of our protective wrapping taken off." It's lines like these that convey the poignancy of Wilson's best work. Though, in this instance, it's fair to say that the Beaker is only half full.
· Until September 9. Box office: 0115 941 9419
