The National Theatre's acclaimed production of The Ocean at the End of the Lane has arrived at Norwich Theatre Royal on its UK tour.
The play was adapted from the bestselling 2013 novel by Neil Gaiman, who also wrote Good Omens, Coraline and Stardust.
It begins with an unnamed protagonist, played by Trevor Fox as an adult, who returns to his childhood home for a funeral.
There he meets the eccentric Old Mrs Hempstock (Finty Williams) by the pond he used to play in.
He begins to remember the supernatural events of his childhood that he experienced with Mrs Hempstock's grandaughter Lettie (Millie Hikasa) - who claimed that the pond was an ocean.
The narrative then goes back in time, with Keir Ogilvy playing the protagonist as a child and Trevor Fox then switches to a Geordie accent to play his dad.
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When their lodger commits suicide due to a gambling problem it allows an otherworldly being to enter the human world and a coin becomes lodged in the boy's throat.
This creature is initially shown through a spectacular puppet that commands the stage and this is really where the play excels.
Intricate puppets feature throughout the show and lighting and sound are superbly used to create suspense.
Despite the work of Lettie, who holds mystical powers, the creature passes into the human world and becomes the boy's new nanny Ursula.
Charlie Brooks is cast perfectly in the role and she really gets to show just how well she plays a villain - something she has mastered as the conniving Janine in EastEnders.
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She drives a wedge between the boy and his sister (Aimee McGoldrick) and father, locking him in his room until he is cleverly able to escape to Hempstock Farm for help.
The play has a conceptual and abstract plot, which made the first half an hour a little hard to get my head around.
However after this the pace picked up and everything fell into place, especially as Brooks exploded onto the stage, and it was a visual feast.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane runs at Norwich Theatre Royal until September 9.
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