KATE Dove's Hiawatha was always going to be taken one of two ways by the audience at Basingstoke's Haymarket Theatre.

It was either going to be laughed at scornfully because it involves a lot of dancing and chanting or it was going to be taken seriously as an enchanting look at the ethnic lives of native American Indians.

In the event the production, directed by Haymarket director Alasdair Ramsay, got a little bit of both from last Wednesday's audience.

For the most part, the atmospheric nature of the production was enjoyed by an audience which was enchanted by the dances and music of the Indians and the heroic story of Hiawatha.

Even those members of the audience who insisted on passing sarcastic comment on the action at the beginning of each half succumbed to the haunting quality of what was, in fact, a fine production.

Based on Longfellow's poem, the play follows the life of Hiawatha from the first meeting of his parents to his marriage to Minnehaha and beyond.

It would be nigh on impossible to reconstruct Lake Superior and the Rocky mountains in the confines of the Haymarket so the production team didn't try, settling instead for a sparse set consisting of a tilted stage and a backdrop of stars.

But the space was used incredibly well, with many clever staging ideas and brilliant lighting effects doing well to give an impression of the wide open space of the American plains.

The play got off to a slightly shaky start, with the audience not sure what to make of all the drumming and chanting but as Hiawatha's story unfolded, the audience was silenced, enthralled by the tale and intense atmosphere.

Everything was choreographed impeccably, from the liquid dances to the energetic fight scenes and Tom Wu, in the title character, was mesmerising as the legendary Indian.

This was a brave production to run, simply because it could have been received with scorn. Although it may not have completely escaped that reception, those who expect little will get far more than they bargained for with this beautiful, thought-provoking play.

Andy Bothwell.

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