THIS is one for the kids, not the critics.

Simon Barry's production is a workmanlike show that dutifully trots through the requirements of traditional pantomime without ever achieving what people on those TV property programmes define as "the wow factor".

It's a bit like someone has bought a DIY pantomime kit and assembled it without adding any personal touches. Only a belated England/Australia rugby joke - at the expense of Aussie Home And Away star Lynne McGranger, playing Witch Blackweed - adds a note of topicality among the stale Weakest Link gags.

None of that seemed to bother the youngsters in the audience, who were clapping along from the opening medley and proceeded to boo, cheer and laugh in all the right places.

McGranger's preening punk witch is pitted against Tonicha Jeronimo's daft Fairy Peagood, a dizzy Northern girl, in the age-old battle between good and evil. Their rivalry produces some good exchanges.

Stuart Wade plays Simple Simon as a cheeky schoolboy, an attitude sure to endear him to younger members of the audience. Paul Critchlow's underused Tilly Trott - "We're so poor, I have to go to KFC and lick other people's fingers" - has a wardrobe as big as her bottom, but precious little to do apart from change her costumes.

Daisy the cow is fun, but I confess to finding Andrea Poyser's hearty Jack intensely irritating. Judging by the way she was clinging precariously to the beanstalk at the end of the first act, she couldn't climb the stairs let along a giant plant stem.

* Runs until January 4. Tickets 0870 606 3595.

Published: 15/12/2003