Child's play

by Nicola Shepherd

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SOME say it's never too early to introduce children to the theatre.

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Others, who have sat through a nativity play performed by three-year-olds, will probably insist that there is a threshold beneath which acting by the under tens is simply excruciating.

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Children are, however, natural drama queens and kings: when they play games of pretend, they stretch the bounds of imagination, and their tanturms are undeniably theatrical.

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They can appreciate theatre as spectators at a very young age, if a first intorduction is seaside Punch and Judy, or a pantomime at Christmas.

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If it's good enough they will sit spellbound for a surprising length of time before demanding to go to the toilet.

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Pantomine comes in two vartieties:� good� and bad. Good pantomime engages both children and adults, brings old stories bang up to date and doesn't allow its villains to induce nightmares. Bad panto reworks old jokes, underestimates the sophistication of children's humour and relies on a cast of C-list celebs.

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But there's so much more than panto and Punch and Judy: ballet can be magical for little kids who dream of swanning it in a tutu. Even Shakespeare can be brought alive by imaginative scripts and directing.

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Give 'em Macbeth in digestible form and they'll be hubble bubbling, toil and troubling for weeks after.

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The Edinburgh festival's sister extravaganza is just for children and performs plays from all over the world. It runs this year from 28 May 28 to 3 June.

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And, on now is a brilliant adaptation of CS Lewis's The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe at London's Sadler's Wells theatre until 2 February.

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Do you remember your first experience�of the theatre Did it leave a lasting impression Share your thoughts and experiences by visiting The AnswerBank message boards now, click here.