When the bulletin board in his bedroom falls off the wall, young Stanley is crushed. Literally.
A once-over with a tape measure and his parents discover that he's 4ft tall, about a foot wide and half-an-inch thick. Fine if you want to enter a room without opening the door - he can just slide under it - but it makes life even tougher for a young boy.
York-based writer Mike Kenny's stage adaptation of Jeff Brown's children's book is sheer delight in Gail McIntyre's imaginative production that uses a puppet Flat Stanley (in partnership with unhidden actor Stewart Cairns) and a brilliant set by Karen Tennant that turns the show into a larger-than-life pop-up book with hidden doors and constant surprises.
The young audience loved it, and I didn't see much fidgeting from their adult companions, either. It even manages to slip in a valuable message without preaching. Other kids don't like him, says Stanley, because he's different. Cue parental lecture about shape, religion or colour of the skin not mattering.
But he does have a good time as Flat Stanley. He's posted to a friend in California for the holidays (his parents can't afford the cost of travel but can manage a stamp), he's flown as a kite and - a little embarrassingly - has to dress up as a girl in a blonde wig and ringlets.
While Cairns is giving a Flat performance, Lisa Howard, Robin Simpson and Ian Bonar inject fun into the proceedings playing not only his family but everyone else in the play.
Until January 13. Tickets 01132-13 7700.
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