The Red Shoes came to the Playhouse this week, positively dripping in dread.

Based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, it tells the story of a young, orphaned girl (Patrycja Kujawska) who finds herself homeless, in rags and with no shoes. An elderly benefactor (David Mynne) takes pity on her and offers the young girl food, shelter, new clothes and a pair of shoes of her choice.

Being blind, the elderly benefactor can’t see which shoes the young girl has chosen. It’s a pair of shiny red shoes — surely something that would go against the benefactor’s conservative, almost puritanical, nature. The girl becomes obsessed with these new shoes, dancing well into the night in them. However, soon it becomes clear that it’s not the girl dancing — it’s the shoes. And they won’t stop.

This production is played out in a cabaret style. It features a master of ceremonies, music, dance and sketches. Although initially a bewildering treatment — creating a distance from the story and a juddering narrative pace of its own — this device soon pays dividends as it allows both a freer, impressionistic version of events and it gives the piece’s creep into horror a little more gravitas. The confrontational aspects of cabaret — where you are constantly reminded you being entertained — has always been a little bit unsettling.

Unfortunately one cannot escape the feeling that this is little more than an extended sketch. The story is incredibly simple — but the 90-minute running time of the show demands more than simplicity. These 90 minutes are padded out by some rather irritatingly purple prose from the master of ceremonies and lots of rather self-conscious humour. Although some in the audience did find this all highly amusing, you couldn’t help but think that the play was very pleased with itself for thinking up some of its zanier, comic moments.

That said, the piece is full of creativity and feels incredibly fresh. The five-strong cast (plus two musicians) double, triple, quadruple up on roles and are endlessly energetic. Their use of a whole host of props, from fishing lines to fake rose petals, is wonderful. And throughout there is a playful irreverence and sense of fun which is infectious and, at times, extraordinary.

Although it does feel like a sketch created by some intelligent show-offs, The Red Shoes is rarely less than entertaining. And with its adherence to its dark cabaret roots, it is often admirably fearless.

Until Saturday. For tickets call 01865 305305(www.oxfordplayhouse.com).