Angela Carter wrote books that sometimes suborned the innocence of youth with a sinister sense of the growing intrusion of adult life and its sexual tyrannies. Shared Experience, an English company of repute, specialises in bringing notable books to the stage. A combination of the two, proved to be a formidable alliance.

Melanie, at 15, loses both her parents in an accident and, with her young brother and sister, must leave an idyllic home and go to live with Uncle Philip and his family. His Irish wife, Margaret stopped talking on the day of their wedding, and her two brothers, Finn and Francie, live under his tyrannical will. It is an intimidating household.

To add to the strangeness, Philip makes toys and puppets, and a parallel between his treatment of his own creations and of his now extended family begins to take shape. There is a perverted lust in his plans for Melanie and the story gathers momentum until it finally explodes into disaster.

At this point, it is reasonable to take note of the programme's advice that the performance will last two hours, 40 minutes. In fact, it now lasts about 130 minutes, suggesting 30 minutes has been shed since its first English outing in mid-September last. There is a sense, prompted by an unexpected ending, of a watered-down climax, a rush to conclusion at the expense of completeness. Bryony Lavery's adaptation is colourful and atmospheric, the acting is splendid all round, the set design permits the action to swirl through a variety of scenes, and the direction by Rebecca Gatward maintains pace and control. Such excellence should keep faith with its talents.

Run has concluded