Beauty and the Beast

Published Monday 10 December 2007 at 15:50 by Nuala Calvi

Told By An Idiot’s Christmas offerings tend to be exciting, anarchic affairs. This year’s outing is certainly anarchic, but it’s also so try-hard that it loses track of what kind of show it really wants to be. Part pantomime, part satire, part surreal comedy - with lots of references to French film and Herge thrown in - it is certainly an original take on the classic tale.

Casting disabled actress Lisa Hammond as Belle makes for a refreshing take on Beauty, even if her wheelchair lessons with the Beast are rather cringe-making.

There are some inventive moments, particularly in the Beast’s castle, where food magically appears on plates and the walls ‘walk’. Nick Haverson, as a quasi panto dame, and Javier Marzan, as Kronenbourg, the family’s talking dog, display the energy required to carry a good festive frolic - but the rest of the company is sadly out of sync with their larger-than-life characters.

Meanwhile, the production refuses to give way to joyful simplicity in its desire to be witty, cutting children off when they try to shout “he’s behind you”, and strangling its musical content before it has a chance to get going.