If your tiny tot is a fan of the boggly-eyed work of children's illustrator Axel Scheffler (The Gruffalo, Pip and Posy, A Squash and a Squeeze, etc.), this live action version of his classic Room on the Broom won't disappoint. If said tot is over two and has had its eyes open recently it won't have missed this charming story, the result of another successful pairing with author Julia Donaldson (think Roald Dahl & Quentin Blake for toddlers), in which a witch and her cat set off on a rhyming journey to fight a dragon, picking up a bunch of animal hitchhikers as they go. Needless to say, a bunch of fun, (mostly) visual jokes and a raft of jolly songs later, no-one has been eaten, everyone is happy and we've all learned something about the power of friendship.

Much credit is due to the four actors (of company Tall Stories) performing this show with live action, fun costumes (and funnier accents) and some great, convincingly Scheffler-ish puppets. The singing was decent - in tune mostly (!) and with some pretty singable numbers (my favourite being the closing rock number with the refrain 'Iggetty, ziggetty, zaggetty, zoom: we've got a truly magnificent broom!'); there wasn't a ton of audience participation going on, but the cast did such a good job of being thoroughly engaging that there didn't need to be (not something you can always say of shows for little ones with short attention spans). My child only began to climb the seating quite near the end - and to be fair to her, it was mainly to get a better look. All this, and a low scare factor too, despite the presence of a big, red, fiery, HUNGRY Welsh dragon (my just-three-year-old only screamed and hid her face for ten seconds and then was right back on it).

The Playhouse stalls at this opening summer holiday Tuesday matinée were rammed full of noisy, excited kiddies (from babies to primary schoolers) and expectant parents - and we all left satisfied (and mostly not crying), with shining faces, waving Room on the Broom flags on sticks (well, that was me, anyway). Cheap squash and G&D's ice cream (plus a load of show-related knick-knacks) were available in the foyer, booster seats helpfully handed out free for the tinies and the general atmosphere was of a great big fun party. A brilliant way to spend a rainy hour or so introducing your LO to real live theatre performance.