IN the past, the Playhouse has celebrated Christmas not with a pantomime but a musical.

This year it's a play - and I hesitate to categorise it as a children's play because Alan Bennett's adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel and Ian Brown's production ensure this is a family show.

The tone is pitched just right to keep young theatregoers glued to their seats, but without being too childish and alienating the adults.

No great fan of The Wind In The Willows, I have to confess I was entranced from start to finish.

A big help are Dick Bird's set designs, which make imaginative use of the Playhouse's Quarry Theatre stage with rolling hills, river bank, underground homes and a stately home over-run by weasels and other animal lowlife.

This is also a show that manages to include most forms of transport including a sports car, train, caravan, rowing boat, barge and even a Brummie-accented horse called Albert (an excellent Dominic Green).

The designs add that touch of magic to Toad's adventures, which culminate in an energetic battle to regain control of Toad Hall.

The four main characters - Toad, Rat, Mole and Badger - are imaginatively achieved through a mixture of costume, make-up and deportment that allows their "human" side come through.

Malcolm Scates is a constant delight as boastful Toad, really coming into his own once he's jailed. He dresses up as a washerwoman to escape and has his excessive behaviour checked by his furry friends.

Ben Fox's toothy Rat, Cameron Blakely's oh-so-sensible Badger and Christopher Pizzey's Mole are great fun too.

* Runs until February 14. Tickets (0113) 213 7700.

Published: 22/12/2003