Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre: 'Gung-ho warmth'

Hooray, it’s back! This adaptation of Noel Streatfield’s no-nonsense, serio-comic 1936 children’s classic blew me away at the National last year and now it’s returned, mostly recast and slightly tinkered with at the edges. The story of three spirited foundling girls forging careers in the arts and engineering, and creating a family from the misfit denizens of an Earl’s Court boarding house, thrills again with its spry visual ingenuity and gung-ho warmth.

Adapter Kendall Feaver subtly updates the generous spirit of the book. Director Katy Rudd fills the auditorium with delight, from the pre-show moment when male and female supernumeraries in tutus teach the audience to do a plié. The box-of tricks set confirmed Frankie Bradshaw as one of our most ingenious designers last year and the choreography by Ellen Kane remains a joy.