Fun for all ages

Nowhere's a pleasant situation for parents desperately seeking something that might just entertain family members over the age of 21 as well as those a decade or so under it. The excellent London Bubble Theatre Company, under the writer/directorship of Jonathan Petherbridge, has come up with a script so unusually and pleasingly sharp - and a dame so adept at ad-libbing - that children will have to leap over the adults rolling in the aisles to catch their share of the flying sweets.

It's a sad but true fact that not nearly enough actors nowadays get to add the credit "Back End of Pantomime Animal" to their CVs. Happily, this is something that London Bubble rectifies in some style, via Augustus (all credit to Simone Clarke and Nicky McGinty), the magnificent sand-dancing camel who belongs to the rather wimpy Ali Baba.

Augustus's lightness of hoof is the key to everything in this telling of the tale, which focuses on the drought caused by the rain cloudstealing antics of the evil Major H - which stands, natch, for Hosepipe - Bann and his team of two doubling as 40 "security personnel". The eight actors - and two puppet meercats, who look winningly like tired old lounge bar crooners - are an energetic delight. Special mention goes to Noma Dumezweni as the admirably straight-faced Major and Eva Alexander as Ali Baba's all-Irish love-interest, Margo.

But it's Simon Thomson as the indefatigable Vera who keeps everyone enthralled, even when the pace and plot begin to flag noticeably in the second half. At two-and-a-half hours, Ali Baba does rather outstay its welcome, especially for younger kids, on whom its many witticisms will be lost.

Petherbridge hasn't quite achieved the Toy Story trick of creating a piece that works perfectly on an adult and child-friendly level simultaneously, but even so he has produced one of the best slices of Christmas entertainment on offer in the capital this year. Until 11 January. Box Office: 020 8858 7755.

Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves