TWO alternative Christmas shows at the Barbican Theatre promise laughs for adults and children.

Cornwall's Miracle Theatre Company brings The Revenge Of Rumpelstiltskin to the Plymouth venue on December 18 and 19.

The show harks back to the Georgian theatre and the birth of pantomime with a scary fairy, a handsome prince who can't be trusted with scissors, and a mechanical swan or two.

The mix of music, laughter and colourful spectacle will appeal to grown-ups and children.

Or adults can turn back to Last Xmas in the company of home-grown theatre company DumbWise, on December 15, 16, 17, 22 and 24.

The show is billed as "a hilarious, bitter-sweet comedy about missed opportunities, bad singing and the uncanny way the festive period leads us to reflect".

DumbWise have created original plays in Plymouth since 2006.

Last Xmas is crammed with live music, video projection and spectacular visuals catapulting Paul's hidden Christmas wishes to the fore, in the magical playing out of his booze-fuelled fantasies.

Christmas is not Paul's favourite time of year, because he's single, his friends are not and he has to suffer the shambolic injustice of a birthday on Boxing Day.

The solution is obvious: to Hit the Sailor Jerry's hard.

He's all set for an evening of Scroogery but with Wham! dribbling sentiments of past love into his turkey-fattened ear, thoughts of Last Christmas begin to play on his rum-steeped mind. Irrationally hopeful, he sets off to find the girl he hasn't heard from for exactly one year.

The final night of Last Xmas ends with a Christmas Eve party in the bar.

For more details call 01752 267131 or go to www.barbicantheatre.co.uk.