Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas's stories about the accident-prone witch and her long-suffering cat Wilbur have just been published for the first time in a three-story treasury. You also get three for the price of one here in Anthony Clark's adaptation for Birmingham Rep.
Clark has done some terrific work for the very young at this theatre, but this strikes me as a somewhat curious choice. These stories are much loved by the three-to-seven age group, but it is Paul's wild, exuberant, detailed illustrations that are intrinsic to their appeal, rather than Thomas's slightly obvious stories. Even the sometimes prickly, often loving odd-couple relationship between mistress and cat is always better conveyed through the pictures than the words.
The producer captures the relationship well: Winnie is played by an actress (the appealing Elizabeth Marsh) and Wilbur by a puppet, whose green eyes and fur standing on end convey all the stress of living with the unpredictable Winnie.
But stage adaptations of children's favourites have to do more than faithfully tell the story and re-create the pictures. Otherwise, you might as well just stay home, read the book and use your own imagination. You don't expect, or want, Winnie the Witch to be as complex as King Lear, but there has to be a good theatrical reason for it to be translated from page to stage.
There are odd moments when this show does make real theatrical sense, most particularly in the brief scene when Winnie takes to the overcrowded skies and is surrounded by hot air balloons, planes and helicopters. This is fun, inventive and done in a way that could only be done on stage.
Otherwise this is like buying a rendition of the stories with some jolly music and high production values. As with so many productions for the very young, you want something extra. We could risk stretching our children and their imaginations a lot more in the theatre. They won't break.
· Until January 12. Box office: 0121-236 4455
