AS a youngster, I adored reading fantastical tales from the Brothers Grimm, but perhaps I wasn't looking at the original versions. Creation Theatre, doing what this unique and talented company does best, stayed true to the Grimm tales throughout, but the downside was that this incorporated blood, disease, death, gore, abandonment and other unpleasantness into the stories.

For the most part, the youngsters in the audience did look like they were enjoying themselves, though I would have to place a caveat on bringing very young children to the production. That said, director Gari Jones (Arabian Nights, Hamlet), did an excellent job at injecting light-hearted moments into the action, including a choreographed sequence of zombies bopping along to Michael Jackson's Thriller.

The plot itself is a seemingly never-ending stretch of stories composed by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, which cleverly criss-cross one another in a sometimes poignant, sometimes humourous way. So while Little Red Riding Hood traverses the forest on her way to see Grandma, she bumps into the abandoned Hansel and Gretel. The hooded heroine also passes a bobbed-hair Rapunzel on her travels, only to stop and ask her why she has cut off her locks.

The second half starts with a darker mood. Think underworld spirits, death, more death and the Grim Reaper. Of course, there's a moral conclusion to all of these tales, but I did feel at times that some of the deeper meanings simply went over the heads of the younger members of the audience. Added to that, the fast pace at which the stories are told, or simply switch back and forth, can leave you feeling a little overwhelmed, if not confused.

But there's not a bad word to be said about the seven-strong cast comprising the talented Claire Andreadis, Alex Beckett, Tim Crowther, Richard Kidd, Eilidh McCormick, Jessica Sedler, and Amy Stacy. Particular mention should be made of Amy Stacy's role as the queen in Rumplestiltskin and Jessica Sedler's touching portrayal of Snow White.

All in all an entertaining show, but not for the very young or faint-hearted.