IT’S a wonder that it’s taken so long for Angela Carter’s 1991 novel to be adapted for the stage. It’s been well worth the wait.

Director Emma Rice has brought all the trademarks associated with her previous troupe Kneehigh to this first production for her new company Wise Children, with bawdy comedy, song, dance and puppetry that’s unafraid to address heavyweight subjects and emotions.

Taking sections of dialogue directly from Carter’s novel, the play follows the fortunes of identical showgirl twins Dora and Nora Chance through a series of flashbacks. Narrating their own story, they reinvent versions of themselves as themes of class, incest and the role of the father come to the fore.