FOR those too young, wriggly or nervous to sit through a whole pantomime this Christmas, Salisbury Playhouse came up with the perfect festive treat.

The toddler-friendly 3 Little Pigs blended puppetry, music and physical theatre with the well-known fairytale, and this show had plenty of puff.

The two performers from the popular Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company set a nice pace as they retold the story of three pigs setting up home in a dangerous wolf-ridden world.

The mixture of live performance and puppetry worked well, and the physical comedy filled the Salberg with delighted giggles. The creators of this show clearly understood what delights young minds.

Battling bales of straw, construction vehicles, a flying wolf, kites, tumbling bricks and sticks are the sorts of things that keep toddlers amused for hours, and they loved seeing them on stage.

There was a little bit of audience participation, and there could have been more before these tots graduate to “big” pantomime in the next year or two.

In fact, many four to six-year-olds would also have thoroughly enjoyed the humour and excitement of this show and it was a shame there were no weekend or after-school performances for them to accompany their little brothers and sisters to this fluffy and funny festive production.

JILL HARDING