Smiths take a hammering

You have never heard the songs of The Smiths sound like this, and I mean that ambivalently. Anonymous Society takes 20 Morrissey and Marr compositions and twist, chop, revamp or rework them into a sometimes-mournful, sometimes-threatening mood piece that defies categorisation.

A string quartet and some eclectic percussion are involved, plus stylised movement, film, some very strange costumes and some very powerful voices among the seven-strong ensemble of international actor-singers.

The last time this company did anything like this, they used the works of Jacques Brel, and the show was one of the most moving things I have ever experienced. This time I was unmoved but impressed, sometimes confused and very occasionally bored.

The governing principle behind Some Girls seems to be to tap into - or in one case, to tap dance into - the core of a song, whether that be an image, a musical hook or a phrase, then spiral off with it into wild exploration.

Then, I presume, directors Andrew Wale and Perrin Manzer Allen tried to fit it all together. The piece is intricately plotted and choreographed and performed with strident, lung-busting energy. All those cheery Smiths themes - the loss of childhood innocence, depression, unrequited love and selfconscious cleverness - are potently evoked, although they don't coalesce the way they seemed to do on the albums.

After a while, too, experimentation seems to become an ends rather than a means. Why not rework What She Said as a Charleston? Or re-interpret the delicate I Know It's Over as a Joe Cocker show-closer? Why not use sign language, fire pistols and dress someone up as a white rabbit?

You will realise how this show chases novelty when I compliment Katie Brayben, not only for having a voice to match her fellow-performers, but also for her skills in trapeze and cello. This is a technically brilliant piece of work, but I admit I missed the simplicity of Johnny Marr's jangly guitar and Morrissey's Manc drone.

Until July 23: Information: 08700 500 511.

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