(Lyn Gardner’s article appeared in the Guardian, 12/20.)
The door to wonderland is edged with blue neon and constantly changes in size in this latest dance theatre piece from the outstanding children's company Theatre-Rites. It offers a child's-eye view of a world that's full of magic and mystery; objects suddenly take on a life of their own, morphing into dogs, birds and six-legged spiders, and feet constantly beat to the percussive soundtrack of life.
It is perhaps a little slow to get going, and initially the extensive use of illusion and puppetry combined with percussion makes it feel like a very clever novelty act for Britain's Got Talent. But novelty turns to nativity and with the birth of a delicious square-faced puppet baby, the show finds both narrative shape and its own mojo as the abstract becomes more concrete.