Turns out wolves, unlike grannies, don’t like cake. And they’re not much good at knitting either.

We’ve been invited to attend an early rehearsal of Little Red, a new production by Barrowland Ballet which will premiere at Tramway this December. The company have performed at Tramway before (with Tiger Tale, the internationally acclaimed children’s production, in 2013) so we know we’ll see something good. We just aren’t sure where exactly a Barrowland Ballet retelling of the classic Grimm’s fairytale Little Red Riding Hood will take us.

This dance theatre adaptation pulls us in immediately. Like Little Red herself, we find ourselves led off the beaten track and into a world where trees are made out of chairs instead of the other way round, where Little Red comes in different shapes and sizes, and where wolfing down Granny has never had such funny consequences.

Three dancers bring the story to life with an engaging combination of innovative choreography, charismatic performances and irrepressible energy. Brought together with perfectly judged music and narration, this supposedly rough-round-the-edges run-through (so we are told) is captivating. The mood moves cleverly between thrillingly anarchic, gently reflective, deliciously scary and gleefully silly. The appeal to dance fans as well as young audiences is obvious. We head home feeling excited. If this is what can be achieved in a community centre on a wet Wednesday night, we can’t wait to see what happens when Little Red is unleashed in Tramway 1!

Nadia, Glasgow Life