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	The Warren (venue website) Theatre 21 May, 7:30pm-8:30pm
Family-friendly. Suitable for all ages.

Is this a show for kids, or is it meant for grown-ups? Perhaps we shouldn’t care. Returning to the Warren for one night only, The Girl With The Iron Claws is a vividly-enacted fairytale – complete with a princess, a Troll Queen, and giant bear. Thanks to its bare-bones set and enthralling puppetry, it’s earned praise wherever it’s travelled, including a five-star write-up from us on its last appearance in Brighton.

There was beauty in the storytelling, wrote our reviewer Jonathan Manning, with words and gestures gaining greater meaning on an uncluttered, rustic stage.  The pace was fast, and the puppets a joy – successfully evoking not just the story, but the entire world in which it belongs.  There were moments of humour, as well as of fear, and the play doesn’t shrink from that kernel of darkness at the heart of all the best fairytales.

The plot may well seem familiar, but the enchantment lies in its presentation; the change to enjoy (as Jonathan put it) “imagining every word of the story as it is being told”.  He’s not the only one to have thought so – The Guardian and The Scotsman were among those to award four stars in Edinburgh – and there’s just one performance this time round.  So if you like the sound of this one, it might be worth booking early.

Read our full review of The Girl With The Iron Claws from last year's Brighton Fringe.