There were some wands and tiaras in the audience at the opening of “Sleeping Beauty”, and with a prince who hates kissing, and a Fairy who smells - this production has much that speaks to a child’s heart.

The play takes us back stage during the “Big Sleep” and we see that things are creaky in the kingdom. The King has lost direction, the Fairy is in mid-life crisis, and ethnic relations are beyond iffy. “You’re what I call ugly” says one character to another “ and you’re what I call breakfast” comes the reply – a great line that sums up culture clash everywhere.

I had forgotten that Sleeping Beauty is about a ‘kingdom without a spindle’. It was funny to be watching it from a kingdom that is rapidly losing its nail clippers and hand cream - an irony probably not missed by Youth Arts Leicestershire, or Rufus Norris who wrote the play.

“Break the spell and find the danger”, C S Lewis once urged, and the moral of “Sleeping Beauty” is that it doesn’t pay to be prim: what’s meant for you won’t miss you.

This is a talented cast and a funny production, with a tour de force by the walk-on donkey.

Kirby Grip