” . . . The acting is as sharp as the dialogue, with the two central characters, played with relish by a peart Gemma Whelan and Sean Michael Verey, being given enough fleshly form to avoid being mere ciphers for ideas. Their innocent depravity, unchecked since hatched in a loving and supportive relationship is a joy to see. The party scene with a streetfull. of guests is the work of half an hour packed into five minutes by two virtuoso performances. . . “

“The two work well together and it shows. As is often the case with such loosely tailored pieces there is much that is self-referential and lots of banter with the audience including a shameless plug for a touted CD. Director, Craig Edwards, has allowed the performers to do their own thing whilst making sure the comedy is not lost in self-indulgence. It’s a cracking recycling of all those little nuggets of Elizabethan history you learned at school.”

This version by the Norwich Puppet Theatre is designed for little folk of four and up so the moral part of the story concerns innocence and deception with some fun being had on how the wolf is outsmarted by the chattering washerwomen who live in Little Red’s village. The carved wooden rod puppets are non-naturalistic with a hint of expressionism, the kind of exaggeration one finds in many children’s books. The puppeteers, wearing black, are in full view and do a good job in characterizing the puppets in their voices.