"It's Hairspray for four-year-olds!" – The Lakeside on Flat Stanley

IF you approach Richard Dale after his debut at the Lakeside Arts Centre this week, make sure to tell him his performance was very flat. He won't mind. In fact, he'll take it as a compliment.

For Richard, 23, is playing boy miracle Stanley Lambchop in the Lakeside's annual festive children's show Flat Stanley, which runs until January 3.

Based on the 60s children's books by Jeff Brown, Flat Stanley tells the tale of a boy squashed by a pinboard into a handy 2D format. Posh Spice can only dream of such a size-shrink. Stanley's flatness gives him the opportunity to slide down grates to retrieve jewellery and catch art thieves.

"He's a normal 14-year-old who's a little bit unfulfilled but very clever," explains Richard, who toured to Nottingham last year as Gideon, the youngest son in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, so has experience of playing younger than his years.

"I only had a vague recollection of the stories, from when I was a kid, but my friends were like, 'Wow – I used to love those books!'"

The question remains – will Stanley ever return to normal size? Audiences will have to watch and find out.

Flat Stanley premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse four years ago but, unlike that production, The Lakeside has decided to base its staging on the original 1960s illustrations.

Richard straps on a "flat" suit for most of the show, consisting of lime-green trousers and a little spotted tie. While Richard himself, behind the suit, wears black to give that 2D effect, he is able to squeeze his arms and feet into the suit so that Stanley can break into the odd song and dance routine.

For, in another new twist on the original show, this Flat Stanley is a musical, with a specially-composed score by Julian Butler. Of course, musical theatre doesn't pose a major challenge to Richard, who is due to join the West End production of Hairspray as Sketch.

"I finish this, then go into that," says Richard, who hails from Devon. "My dream was always to be in Hairspray and, two days ago, I found out I'd got that part.

"But this production is also brilliant – very creative and original. And it's great to be tackling brand-new music."

Creative and original is something the Lakeside tries to bring to its seasonal productions.

"The Royal and the Playhouse do panto fantastically well, there was Disney on Ice at the Arena a couple of weeks ago..." points out director Matt Aston, who worked as the Lakeside's producer and programmer for eight years.

"We saw a gap in the market to do something a little bit different for younger children. We try to take well-known stories and offer an alternative to the traditional Christmas shows. This year, for the first time, we've created a mini-musical. I would describe it as Hairspray for four-year-olds!"

And it's not just for four-year-olds. Anyone with the Christian name Stanley is being invited to enjoy the show for free. You must bring some form of identification. To register, contact Katherine or Liz on 0115 941 0714.

Flat Stanley runs until January 3. For tickets (£7), call 0115 846 7777.