The Time Warp hit town last night, and in the time honoured way, whether travelling in to the centre on the number 4 or the 43, many succumbing to its pleasures felt compelled to wear nothing but undies, fishnets and basques. St Augustine’s Parade was awash with jiggering flesh as we lined up for our bag checks. Once inside, this jolly crew was more than ready to play its part in a fast, furious and fun evening’s entertainment.

Birmingham Royal Ballet dazzled with the athletic prowess of its Principal Dancers during this highly stylised and sumptuously costumed performance of The Taming of the Shrew . . . Choreographer John Cranko climaxes this piece with three pas-de-deux involving Principal Dancers Iain Mackay and Elisha Willis as ‘conquering’ lover Petruchio and the Shrew, Katherina. Mackay kept his swagger throughout a gruelling workout of dramatic lifts, slides and off-balance promenades . . .

The Mikado, can, on the face of it, appear as extraordinarily eccentric. There is a surface quaintness that belies the more sinister themes of power, frustrated love and judicial cruelty that run throughout the narrative. Tonight’s production straddled those two extremes perfectly. The songs, of course, help to sweep you along – Three Little Maids From School Are We and Here’s A How-De-Do being the more obviously remembered upbeat melodies . . .

It’s an entertaining show, with all the elements of Horrible Histories storytelling that two generations have now come to know and love. But whereas the original drawings of illustrator Martin Brown have provided so much warmth to the character of the books, the introduction of top-of-the-range digital effects is possibly in danger of stealing this show, making it a little too slick. But despite this, this Horrible Histories staging remains a fun way to swallow some cool facts at a young age.