This exuberant adaptation of Jackie Collins’ first novel turns a story of infidelity, sexual politics and female ambition into an explicitly adult puppet show at London’s Yard theatre. Using modified Barbie dolls, detailed miniature sets and live video, Malmö Dockteater creates a deliberately bizarre but highly effective production that the reviewer finds outrageously funny, inventive and unexpectedly humane.

Set amid the film world of 1960s Hampstead, the plot follows bored housewife Linda, her unfaithful husband David and his aspiring actor lover Claudia, against a backdrop of predatory directors and casting-couch exploitation. Directed and designed by Erik Holmström, the Swedish-language production is translated by Lulu Raczka and performed by puppeteers Erik Olsson and Kajsa Ericsson, with camerawork by Josefin Beischer; its graphic sex scenes and period-detail doll’s houses serve both comedy and Collins’ still-relevant critique of inequality in relationships.