Anyone looking for superior family-friendly December fare that doesn't include the words "It's behind you" should set their sat-navs for Hammersmith and Stratford-upon-Avon. The playful storytelling style of tireless theatrical innovators Told by an Idiot doesn't always work, as evidenced by its recent Casanova, but it goes down a treat for Beauty and the Beast at the Lyric.
The enjoyably boisterous script, by director Paul Hunter and Carl Grose, sees Belle ('"or Beauty, for short") contend with Bridget and Brioche, two ugly-esque sisters, and confide in her marvellously loyal and insouciant dog Kronenbourg (Javier Marzan, excellent) who bounds around flapping his oven-glove ears.
If Lisa Hammond's diminutive Beauty is a bit of a grumpy boots, albeit one with a pleasingly dry sense of humour, or Leo Wringer's Beast not quite scary enough, the Idiots ensure that their energetic ways keep audience members of all ages hoping for a happy ending.
Beauty And The Beast
Lyric Hammersmith
Lyric Square, King Street, W6 0QL
