Jacqueline Wilson is staggeringly successful as a children's author.

Youngsters gobble up her books as if they are sweets, even though the subject matter is anything but sugary.

So expectations were high for the stage production of Bad Girls, the second of her novels to be dramatised.

The gritty subject matter for which Wilson is famous was there in abundance - broken families, shop-lifting, suicide and the central topic of bullying.

The actors put in credible performances (once you had made the leap of faith that 20-something actresses were ten-and 12-year-old schoolgirls).

And there were some clever stage ideas, such as the use of overhead projectors, bursts of thumping rock music and colourful dream sequences.

And yet the production was lacklustre - at least for me as an adult.

The show is a co-production between Watershed and Polka Theatre, whom Wilson says make shows novice theatregoers will never forget. On this showing, that seems an over-enthusiastic assessment. Perhaps it was not an easy book for Vicky Ireland to adapt and direct.

Bad Girls is the story of ten-year-old Mandy, who is being bullied at school. She longs for trendy glasses and fashionable clothes but her straitlaced and over-protective mother thinks otherwise.

Mandy's life changes when she meets, feisty, fun, red-headed Tanya who has a heart of gold but a troubled background. The pair become best mates, much to Mandy's mum's disapproval.

Despite a scrape with the law, ultimately it is not Tanya but the school bullies who are revealed as the bad girls.

There were worries that a two-hour show would be too long for the target audience of eight to 12-year-olds but it picked up pace in the second half and the children around me were glued.

Susanna Harrison, who is on stage for the entire show, delivers a beautifully-observed, frightened and frustrated ten-year-old and Luanna Priestman, who towers above her new pal, injects humour as the wayward Tanya.

But when the final curtain fell there was polite rather than rapturous applause. My own ten-year-old, addicted to Wilson's books, enjoyed it but declared it "okay" rather than memorable.

Perhaps the half-full Dome was not the right venue and the show would have benefitted from a more intimate setting.

However, Wilson's message is spot on - that there is a way out for those being bullied. And any show which fosters a love of theatre in young people can't be a bad thing.