HEADLONG

Jealousy clutches at the heart of a king; an enraged father topples his son's tower of bricks; a child is torn from his mother's arms; a family is destroyed. With a child's toy box on the front of the stage, Simon Godwin's clear, no-frills approach to Shakespeare's late romance gets right to the heart of a play where miracles do happen and redemption does eventually come, but at a terrible price.

This is a really terrific touring production: uncluttered, good at storytelling, neatly designed with a nod to the 1930s, and full of nifty touches. Shakespeare's most famous stage direction, "exit, pursued by a bear", becomes an act of the imagination involving Perdita's teddy bear, and there is a touch of the Kneehighs in the delicious song and dance routine at the sheep-shearing feast. Golda Rosheuvel is a brilliant, tigerish Paulina; John Hodgkinson makes the most of both the honourable Antigonus and the light-fingered Autolycus, and Bryony Hannah, as Mamillius and Perdita, has a compelling, waif-like presence.

Programmed as part of York Theatre Royal's fantastic 'Take Over Festival' for under 26's, this piece adds to the diverse schedule of exciting theatre currently offered in their innovative programme - the festival really is a must for anyone young and interested in theatre from all around, and not something to miss out on.

Designer Miriam Nabarro presents a pared down setting, with a chaise long and a desk representing the dour Sicilia and chequered table clothes, strings of bunting lights and cafe tables signifying Bohemia. Traditionally populated by a large cast, director Simon Godwin aims to distil this production down to its essence. Doubling the characters is used throughout with actors portraying lords and ladies in Leontes' court and country folk in Bohemia.

This economical production certainly stages Shakespeare without fuss... with the gentle colours of James Farncombe's lighting design washing over the backdrop, this production produces a very pleasant evening's theatre without the risk of tragedy. The cast produce a joyful song and dance in their seaside cafe, with a pleasing jig that has the audience smiling and a picture post-card vision of the waters of Bohemia. Safe on the shores of this temperate existence, Headlong's romantic wintery tale lightly seduces without the fear of the cold, dark bite of frost.