Katherine MacAlister accompanies her children to this Julia Donaldson classic

It’s going to be a very short play mum,” my girls said anxiously as we queued to get into Room on The Broom at the Oxford Playhouse. “The book only takes a few minutes to read.”

But I had been assured that the current adaptation of Room on The Broom, having already enthralled thousands of small children in the West End, was 75 minutes long without an interval.

And, judging by the incarnation of another of Julia Donaldson’s books The Gruffalo, we were in for a treat, Tall Stories being renowned for their passionate depictions of children’s classics.

The cast have a massive advantage in inheriting Julia Donaldson’s much loved text and Axel Scheffler’s illustrations, and needing to be true to both meant identical costumes and words, to make them instantly recognisable to their plethora of small, sticky-handed and vocal fans.

But it was a hard crowd, and I have to give it to the cast for persevering. Because despite their best efforts there was a constant hum of babies crying, children chattering, mums getting in and out of seats, toilet runs and lots of shouting out - heckling starts early it would seem. However, the vast majority of the young audience were gripped and avidly following the exploits of the witch and her crew.

For those of you not raised on bread, water and Julia Donaldson, Room On The Broom follows a rather haphazard, but friendly witch and her cat, who pick up various animals en route to fight a dragon. But her broom becomes so top heavy that it snaps with disastrous consequences, requiring all the witch’s dubious magical powers to rectify the situation. The cast of four play all the characters and puppets, ably enabled by a frog from the Deep South, a smelly dog, a Keith Harris style green bird and the indignant witch’s cat, who has more tricks than the rest of their motley crew put together.

The story is stretched out with lots of songs and interaction and even though my girls were too old really at 7 and 9, they still enjoyed themselves and reminisced about the funny bits all the way home.

The theatre was packed, as it would be on a wet Tuesday afternoon, but if August continues this way, you’ll be delighted to know that Room On The Broom continues until Saturday, twice a day.

A wonderful introduction to theatre. If you have a little one go.

01865 305305 www.oxfordplayhouse.com