Ballet Shoes is a beautiful adaptation of Noel Streatfeild’s beloved novel – review
The National Theatre always puts on a more family-friendly show over the festive season – last year they delighted us with a brilliant adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, which was thoroughly charming and quite the spectacle.
It was so impressive, in fact, that we wondered how this year’s offering could possibly top that. We needn’t have worried: this new production of beloved children’s novel Ballet Shoes, adapted by Kendall Feaver, is absolutely wonderful.
It tells quite a ludicrous story: at the top of the show we’re introduced to Great Uncle Matthew – or GUM, for short – played brilliantly by Justin Salinger (who takes on a wide range of additional roles later on, to hilarious effect).
GUM, an avid explorer, collects a whole array of artefacts on his travels, and over the course of a few years manages to acquire three baby girls who have been abandoned by their respective parents.
