The Argus: Brighton Festival ThumbOn its publicity Play Please! claims to be the "ultimate interactive experience for young children (and their families)” and there is no doubt that, for snapshot moments, the young people in the audience did manage to engage intrinsically with the clever technology that was the base of this installation and show.

Separated from the grown-ups and divided into four colour-coded groups, the children sat patiently until graceful dancers physically invited their group to come up a few at a time to wriggle their fingers, stomp or skip under lights that were connected to sensors.

Their endeavors were translated into sounds or projections on three huge screens framing an immaculate performance space.

From a technical point of view, it was clever stuff even rivaling installations in a science museum. But, as far as entertainment is concerned, the atmosphere was too dour to allow children to properly experiment and connect with the show.

There was an awful lot of quiet sitting and watching, which, although the children mostly managed remarkably well, was disappointing for a show targeted at such a young age group and sold on an interactive basis.