Cornerstone puts together such an exciting and eclectic programme, with an imaginative selection of diverse offerings – and the same goes for its latest show, Splash Test Dummies.This trio of robustly energetic Australian men burst onto the stage in an exciting and eclectic sequence of imaginative episodes of acrobatics, clowning, improvised art, juggling, comedy, storytelling, conjuring, pantomime, puppetry and sheer infantile silliness, loosely based around the theme of all things watery – from beaches to bathtubs.

Splash Test Dummies embody the spirit of pure playfulness. Clad in bright red and yellow striped bathers, they combine to form a complete three-man circus. Their show is predominantly visual rather than verbal, but it is not purely spectacle.They play with the audience. Although they are slick professional performers, they come across like Ideal Dad and two Favourite Uncles on holiday – grown-ups freed from adult constraints, with all the energy, enthusiasm and time in the world, completely devoting themselves to indulging in the inventiveness of children at play. What crazy use will they put their pile of props to next? Rubber ducks, silly string, bath towels, swimming noodles, bathing caps, giant hoops, juggling clubs all get ingeniously repurposed. It is somehow especially refreshing to see these three unambiguously adult muscular, manly men, variously bristled, bearded and bald, displaying such uninhibited freedom to enjoy the pleasure of exercising their ingenuity and imagination, and the prowess and physicality of movement – from feats of strength and balance to almost balletic grace. The audience – mainly young children and their parents – revelled in it.

I wouldn’t exactly call them perfect male role models, though – indeed, many times my inner Health & Safety monitor silently screamed “Don’t try this at home!” And there was quite a lot of puerile potty humour – though, to be fair, the under fives who formed a large part of the audience did find all the references to bodily functions, orifices and effluents utterly hilarious. And after all, the Minimal Turing Test (McEnroy & Ullman, 2018, J Exp Soc Psych) has established that “poop” is the key word most widely recognised as distinguishing human diction from AI, so perhaps this is all part of the Dummies’ celebration of humanity.

It was fascinating to watch the interplay of performers and audience, and to realise what complex abstract principles all those tiny children were already learning, in terms of social behaviour and comedy - such as the power of rules and when to observe them and when and how they can be broken, and the drama and humour of setting up expectations and then confounding them - allowing them to participate in the thrill of theatre-wide shared fantasies, games and jokes. Didcot’s children are so lucky to have this kind of theatre to experience, and those present enjoyed it immensely.

Note: Didcot might seem a long way to travel but actually it is only 30 minutes from Oxford, by car or bus or train (sometimes quicker than getting into central Oxford by car or public transport!).The theatre is a short (two minute) walk from the bus and train stations and the free/very cheap (£2-3) Orchard Centre parking; and it has a varied programme of events at competitive prices.