'Once upon a time there was a wood," announces a storyteller at the beginning of Creation Theatre's Tales from the Brothers Grimm. Ominously, he continues: "Nobody knew who lived there. It was no ordinary wood." It's not long before Hansel and Gretel warn Little Red Riding Hood of the dangers that lurk among the trees.

Hang on a minute. Hansel and Gretel warn Little Red Riding Hood? Surely they belong to two entirely different fairy tales? Not in Tales from the Brothers Grimm they don't. In the first half of the show, writer and director Gari Jones has mixed and matched several Grimm fairy tales, often drawing common themes together - Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood are both set in woods, for example. Even though Jones uses storytellers to point the way, the constant, quick-fire switching between stories could be confusing, and sometimes it is. But it doesn't really matter, such is the zest and sheer inventiveness that is put into each individual snapshot scene.

"A hot young huntsman was passing by," a storyteller announces, making it plain that he himself is the huntsman, while also making it plain that the word 'hot' is subject to more than one possible interpretation. Gari Jones has used the storytellers to add humour to the original stories, which, he suggested in an Oxford Times interview, "aren't that funny". Jones adds a goodly dose of irreverence to the original stories too: asked why he is hobbling, a passing character replies: "I was an Ugly Sister in Cinderella, and as I trained as a method actor, I really did chop off two toes in order to fit into Cinderella's glass slipper". There's also an eclectic use of music - another Jones speciality - including Michael Jackson's record-breaking Thriller, which is currently celebrating its 25th birthday.

After the interval, things get darker for a while (the Grim Reaper appears at this point), before some unashamedly coarse puppet dwarves arrive to enliven the story of Snow White. It was noticeable that the interest of the fleet of small boys sitting behind me flagged at the beginning of the second act - a bit of judicious cutting could be in order here, I felt. Previously they had particularly enjoyed the death scenes, and the multitudinous cod accents adopted by the terrific team of seven actors - Claire Andreadis, Alex Beckett, Tim Crowther, Richard Kidd (right as Rumplestiltstin), Eilidh McCormick, Jessica Sedler, and Amy Stacy. Their contribution to this colourful, kaleidoscopic show is enormous.

Tales from the Brothers Grimm continues at the Mirror Tent, BMW Group Plant, Oxford, until January 12. Box office: 01865 766266 or www.creationtheatre.co.uk