They seem like Jungian projections rather than airy, fantastical creatures. Designed and directed by Barnaby Dixon, they are a marvel and glow from within like luminous origami. Just as in Hytner’s previous production, the daemons are puppets (kingfishers, lemurs, badgers, each as gorgeous as the next). What is more remarkable is the production’s ability to keep closely to Pullman’s earth-bound and realistic brand of fantasy. Luke Halls’ video design, Jon Clark’s lighting and Paul Arditti’s sound design combine expertly: there are diaphanous mobile screens that create the effect of depth, with beautiful pencil sketches of trees and windows. There is also greater wit than in Pullman’s book: the nuns make wry asides, Malcolm brings hapless comedy and throwaway lines are humorously delivered.īob Crowley’s stage design glides seamlessly from the Trout Inn to the convent, the inner realms of Oxford University and then a flood that fills floors and walls and creates a convincing illusion of Malcolm’s canoe – and the stage itself – afloat on waves. The characters never feel flat and they have interesting intellectual complications. It is no small accomplishment that a story which teems with such a large cast of nuns, church authorities and terror police, along with an underground resistance and a secret service of scientists, is incorporated on stage with a sleek discipline that avoids overcrowding and confusion.

The production only falls short of perfection for those who find themselves flagging at Pullman’s – rather than Hytner’s – breakneck pace and plotting. The stage is action-filled with one dangerous turn after another, which reflects the spirit of the original faithfully, albeit unleavened by the deeper philosophical ruminations in the book.

Ayesha Dharker, as Marisa Coulter, is a cultish figure, encouraging pupils to join the League of St Alexander and Pip Carter’s predatory Gerard Bonneville has a sibilant menace, along with his giggling hyena daemon. The dark forces are convincingly troubling: the body of a woman floats face down in the water, we hear the sound of a neck being broken.

Ella Dacres, as Alice, is his steely equal and there is chemistry between them, although Lavery’s script does not develop their romance to the same degree as the book. Samuel Creasey, an adult actor playing Malcolm, gives an uncannily convincing performance of boyhood. In some scenes, Lyra is played by a real and formidably well-behaved baby which instantly raises the stakes and heightens our emotional responses. from left, Sky Yang, Ella Dacres, Samuel Creasey and Heather Forster.

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