The real audience for The Lord Of The Rings has always been questionable: the simplicity of the fable's morality seems to be pitched at children, yet the unwieldy placenames and complicated geography of Tolkien's contrived, and somewhat wistful, mythology require an adult degree of sophistication.

The adaptation by Theatre Sans Fil of Montreal combines both aspects of the long sequence with elan. The result is a stunning visual presentation which touches beautifully on the mystical aspects of the story. The captivating use of puppets seems particularly suited to for a narrative based on the darker legends of central European folklore, but this realisation of Tolkien's blend of past and future often evokes a sense that Star Wars has been blended with Mabel Lucie Atwell.

Andre Viens is the artistic director of the company and offers particularly effective versions of Gandolf and Galadriel, although there is a sense that the narrative drive dissolves under the impact of quadrophonic sound, laser lights and a stage that opens, closes and collapses in the visual conception by Michel Demers. As a spectacle The Lord Of The Rings is splendid; as a story it suffers, as the original does, from mythological overload.

Continues until tomorrow.