Theatre: Angela Carter cinderella

Improbable Theatre is the sort of company that could turn the act of squeezing a tube of toothpaste into a memorable theatrical experience. Each of the shows staged during the last three years by this triumvirate of talent - Julian Crouch, Phelim McDermott and Lee Simpson - has been startlingly different but informed by the same homespun ethic. Angela Carter Cinderella, their festive season offering, will probably bear certain resemblances to their visually exquisite "junk opera" Shockheaded Peter, the Sellotape-wrapped memory play, 70 Hill Lane, and the improvised biodrama, Lifegame. But beyond that, it's anyone's guess (the show is being devised up until the last minute). The outre artistic director of the Lyric Hammersmith, Neil Bartlett, is also on board for this journey to 19th-century pantoland, informed by Angela Carter's psychosexual account of everyone's favourite unloved step-daughter.

Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London W6 (0181-741 2311) in previews, opens Thur

Dominic Cavendish