"Goldilocks & The Three Bears"

The Neville Studios, Nottingham Playhouse.

Written by Anna Wheatley this is a new 21st Century rewriting of the classic Goldilocks story aimed at the three- to five-year-olds.

Goldilocks, also known as Goldylox, loves to dance, but dancing is banned in her home by her repressive mother and father, who lock her in the cellar without food when she is caught having a boogie. Well, on this occasion Goldylox has been thrown into her cellar prison, without dinner, when she spots a beautiful butterfly. Goldy tells the butterfly that it needs to fly to the enchanted Sherwood Forest. the butterfly tells Goldy to follow it, which she does by sneaking out of the cellar through an unlocked window.

Goldy follows the butterfly through Nottingham City Centre, through the Nottingham Beach and to Sherwood Forest - and that's quite a distance, no wonder her feet ached!. Once within Sherwood Forest, she finds the house of The Three Bears.

Now, I mentioned that this reworking is bang up to date and here we discover just how up to date the writing is, and all of the positive vibes that the young audience imbibe by just taking in this story. It's positivity covers being free to be yourself, being kind to yourself and others and belonging. It also introduces us to two Daddy Bears who are married; Big Bear and Papa Bear, plus Small Bear, who has ambitions to be a pop star, completely backed by her two dads. The Bears love to dance so they invite Goldy to stay with them.

Julia Bird who plays Goldylox quickly wins over her young audience members with her nifty dance moves and through laughter, which includes some feathered friends, now there's irony for you - Julia Bird and her relationship with the puppet birds! Great costume for Goldy, clad in gold lame tracksuit which sparkles and shines as much as Julia herself.

Playing all three bears - Small Bear is a puppet though - is Reece Carter, who also keeps the kids occupied whilst they are filing in to the studio space by chatting to them and straight away making that connection.

There's magic, music and puppetry and a lovely magnetism between both actors and their audience. You just need to watch the young members to see how much they are loving the production, taking an active part on the show when invited, and sometimes when they were not, but that's the fun of a young audience.

The music, which by the way is extremely catchy, is written by Jack Quarton, who is also the Musical Director. Ensuring that there are enough simple hooks in the songs to bring the kids on board and joining in.

Directed by Hannah Stone the piece is paced perfectly to deliver every positive nuance while keeping the story simple but fresh, enabling that the messages were planted in the minds of the aimed audience.

A multi faceted set, designed by Imogen Gulliford, which creates a new scene at the switch of a piece of scenery. The three chairs even hold comedy elements, as do the beds and even more magic with the bowls of porridge and the cake made by Papa Bear, which disappears before your very eyes when eaten by the ravenous Goldylox.

There're also video captions to help the kids follow the story and what is being impressed at that particular stage of the story.

As an "older kid", I was completely enthralled by this reworking and the completely modern feel of this new version of "Goldilocks & the Three Bears" and could see just how much magic was cast over the audience by these two wonderful actors and storytellers, and the simple but effective sentiments weaved into the storyline.

For adults, it also highlights that not all children are cared for as they should be and that this was the reason for why Goldilocks did what she felt she needed to do, just to survive. Working on several levels, it's a story that can teach us all a lesson and keep us mindful, especially at this time of the year.

"Goldilocks & The Three Bears" is at The Neville Studio at The Nottingham Playhouse until Saturday 31 December, so please go to the Nottingham Playhouse website to check times and dates.

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