Pinocchio, Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London

Pinocchio is the Linbury Theatre's entry for the yuletide audience stakes, and it is intended, so says the flyer, for "everyone aged eight and over". This lets me in, and if your eight-year-old is quick-eared and not musically highly sophisticated, and has a taste for truancy, this show may well fit the bill. Otherwise the relentlessly perky tunes, the gabbled and not-so-easy-to-catch lyrics, may bring that dreaded whisper (or, more likely, not whisper) "What's he saying now?"

This new Pinocchio is all singing, all-dancing, all- talking in cod Italian and a mish-mash of Yurrupeen lingos, and all-energetic. It has brilliant design by the Quay Brothers (I especially admired the sea-monster and the use of a curtain to suggest the ocean), jolly costuming by Nicky Gillibrand, clever lighting by Paule Constable and quick-witted production by Will Tuckett, with an energy that drags us along in the wake of the story.

It also has Matthew Hart, a hero of this column, as a wonderfully resourceful dance-actor in the title role - a total physical and emotional identification, speaking to us of every twist in the story. There are fine artists in the other roles: Will Kemp the spirit of cunning bombast as Stromboli, temptation incarnate, and Chris Akrill as the nastiest of not-so- little boys. There is also that gorge-riser The Blue Fairy (mit sequined child's scooter) who buzzes through the evening like a self-righteous mosquito, urging little Pin to go to school (and who is, oddly enough, known to us by voice-over). Old Geppetto, who wanders into the woods in search of wood, is played with commendable simplicity by Luke Heydon.

So far, I suppose, so acceptable and almost good. But the score (by Martin Ward) is infected with the sentimentality that washes like a tide through the tale and needs, I feel, to tone down its vivacities. And the tale itself is not a little predictable in its attitudes, and takes far too long to do its undramatic thing. Carefully pruned so that its emotional focus seems sharper, and with shortened songs and more easily understood lyrics - all the things to which a good musical is subjected before its official premiere - Pinocchio can win its audience, even the eight- year-olds, who are (like critics) not the easiest little beasts to please.

Tel 020 7340 4000