I found Matthew Bourne's Early Adventures an evening of three halves. The performance consists of three dance suites choreographed by Matthew Bourne between 1988 and 1991. The first, Spitfire, is a short, sweet suite. Subtitled An Advertisement Divertissement, it starts with a pas de quatre for 4 male underwear models, and it's charming. Bourne's choreography sticks very much to classical lines - it's the subject matter that's irreverent and modern, not the dancing style. And part of the joy of seeing the New Adventures Company in a smaller venue like the Playhouse is that you can see the faces. This is no ultra-serious, painted smile Russian corps de ballet. Spitfire features winks, raised eyebrows and the fixed, supercilious smirk of the catalogue model.

The next suite comes in two halves: Town & Country. In Town in the 40's there are many diversions to be had - picnics amidst the traffic, dancing to the wireless, falling in love. My favourite dances are the surreal bathtime set to the theme tune from Desert Island Discs, and the twin Brief Encounters, with their different endings. By the first interval I was thoroughly in love with the evening...

... Only to fall bang out again in the second Act, Country. It started with another pas de quatre, this time rough swains and maidens, and descended into the sort of humour one might describe as Bucolic, via some extremely confusing mime. I began to wonder if Bourne's only knowledge of the countryside came from watching Four Weddings and a Funeral and reading Sherlock Holmes. This is of course an exaggeration. There was a beautiful dawn chorus, the dancers making gentle flapping wings and swan necks with their hands, and an agonising misty nightmare danced to traditional song Shallow Brown. However, when a ballet has to be rescued by cute hand-puppet animals I'd say it's time to cull it.

By the second song of Paris-pastiche The Infernal Galop I had thawed again. This last suite is helped by the fabulous music, including La Mer and Piaf singing Hymne a l'amour. And Bourne is back on safe territory here with forbidden love and general naughtiness. By safe I mean within Bourne's comfort zone, not necessarily the audience's - some more conservative ballet-lovers walked out during this last suite. I wasn't sure what had upset them; possibly the Pissoir scene.

Would I recommend this show? Definitely. No-one does witty like Bourne. But I might advise watching the first and third halves and enjoying an extended interval, perhaps popping out for a cocktail. In all seriousness, the show is fascinating as a sort of sandbox - you can see Bourne trying out ideas that later developed into his signature all-male Swan Lake and wartime extravaganza Cinderella. For anyone who likes their dance simultaneously classically chic and utterly tongue-in-cheek, you can see it done beautifully at the Playhouse until Wednesday.