THIS Italian production from the Aida company was the first show in this year's Children's Season of the Dublin Theatre Festival that has used the whole of the Ark's wonderful theatre, with audience capacity several times higher than for the other, more intimate performances. Such a shame then that its undoubted qualities as large scale puppet spectacle were overwhelmed by its self indulgence and lack of narrative coherence.

Gianni Franceschini who also performed longwindedly as the "storyteller" - has adopted part of this well known Arabian Nights tale as an orientalist fantasy; thus the puppets and costumes (colourful creations, though not especially expressive, by Marisa and Raffaela Dolci) had a mostly Chinese flavour. However, the beautiful Princess, daughter of a grotesque fareastern Sultan. looked distinctly Italian.

To dodgy ethnicity, add dodgy translation. To take the most often repeated example, "desires" may sound more poetical than the idiomatic "wishes", but it did nothing to wipe the blank stares off the watching children's faces.