The hallmark of the children's season of this year's Dublin Theatre Festival has been simplicity, and one cannot help but wonder if the Ark has been making a virtue of budgetary necessity.

A low-tech two-hander - one actor more than most of the plays we've seen - took to the stage yesterday, courtesy of Danish company Teatergruppen Mariehonen. Its 50-minute progress was fuelled mainly by charm - which it possessed in vast quantities. On stage at all times, Peter Westphael and Lisbeth Knopper sweetly wear their theatrical illusions on their sleeves. Peter gets into the young character of Henry before our eyes, while Lisbeth switches from mother to sister to dog by stepping behind a stepladder. The story is simple, too: Henry misunderstands his parents' feelings towards him and runs away from home, in the process learning a few serious lessons about heroism and forgiveness. Even some lessthan-idiomatic translation from the Danish wouldn't confuse the kids.

The play invites enthusiasm from its five-to-seven-year-old audience, but at yesterday's second performance the results got a bit carried away. "Dogs can't talk!" a few kids shouted right through a quiet boy-and-his-bowwow scene, prompting Peter to pause - still just about in character - to explain that this was Lisbeth pretending to be a dog. Mind you, she was pretending awfully well. Runs today Fri at 10.15 a.m. and 12.15 p.m., Saturday at 11.30 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. and Sunday at 3.30 p.m.