Who’s Afraid of the Brothers Grimm

The Brothers Grimm liked to show the dark side of life in their twisted fairy tales, and have scared generations of small children silly with their stories of girl-eating wolves and cannibal women living in gingerbread houses.

This family show from the Peculius Stage Company takes the 150th anniversary of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm’s death as its starting point, and plays around with some of their most well known characters. The action takes the form of a string of sketches, sewn together as the Grimm Brothers flick TV channels at home.

Rapunzel stars in a shampoo advert, Hansel and Gretel do a dance performance on a talent show and Rumpelstilskin pops up in a trailer for an Arnold Schwarzenegger-style action movie. Although the comedy skits hide a modern message about consumerist society, the jokes are often weak, and an added sub-plot of Oscar Wilde’s The Nightingale and the Rose left smaller audience members squirming in their seats, and parents a bit confused.

Although the youthful cast bring energy to their multiple parts, the overall entertainment factor is low, and the humour often a bit, well, grim. The Sky+ rewound scene is, however, very nicely done.

The Spaces on the Mile @ The Radisson, 0845 508 8316, until 29 Aug, 2pm, £5.50 (£4.50).