Packing a cast of 20 skaters on to the historic stage of the Theatre Royal is a tall enough order - without adding stilts. But that's what award-winning artistic director Tony Mercer will be doing next week when he brings this classic fairytale to Brighton.

"The stilts are 18-inches high and are connected to the boots and blade," says Tony. "When you consider stilt skating for the first time, you think, This is a horrendous idea'. But it only takes the performers a couple of months to master."

The show is performed by the Imperial Ice Stars, most of whom are former international champions who would normally perform in an arena measuring 60m x 60m.

In Sleeping Beauty they must perform on an ice rink is only 15m x 15m - and as well as stilt skating they are required to perform daring high-speed throws, aerial gymnastics, fire effects - and act.

Former junior world champion Ilia Klimkin, 27, plays the jester character Catalabutte. "On a small stage there is not a lot of speed and the jumps are hard," she says. "But you will have all the elements of the show, just done in a different way."

It's not only the size of the ice that's important - it's also the quality. There will be around 14 tons of ice created on the stage, taking 24 hours to complete.

The surface has to be perfect for each performance, as ice that is too hard or too soft is enough to floor even world-class skaters.

"Ice is a living, breathing entity," says Tony. "It has to be just right - it's really tricky."

The show first toured to critical acclaim in 2005 and the latest pro-duction has been rechoreographed by Tony along with 2002 world champion and Olympic medallist Llia Averbukh and international medallist Maria Orlova.

They have recruited a skating team which has won more than 200 competitive medals between them.

  • Tickets from £19. Starts 7.45pm with 2.30pm matinee performances on Wed, Thur and Sat. Call 08700 606650