THE Grand Opera House got off to a promising start by timing the beginning of the opening night’s show for 7pm, as taking young children to productions that start when they would normally be going to bed raises certain parental dilemmas.

The trend for children’s productions of late is to acknowledge the adults in the audience and throw in a few subversive jokes to keep them sweet. Not so with Calibre Productions’ production of Shaun’s Big Show, which was aimed solely at the very young members.

Anyone over the age of seven would be getting a bit long in the tooth for a show that takes Aardman’s animated BBC series Shaun The Sheep and transforms it into a dance musical with no words, but a story provided by the doyen of children’s theatre writers, David Wood, involving Shaun putting on a show for his friends.

My son, aged six, delighted as a group of sheep ran through choreographed dance routines, running the gamut of disco to ceilidh to tap dance, but with nary a plot line in sight.

Parents may have been somewhat less entertained, but hey, it wasn’t for us, and what it lacked in substance, it made up for in fun. My heart went out to the young dancers performing the roles of assorted sheep, as no one could distinguish who showed promise as they all wore giant papier-maché masks.

Shaun’s Big Show, Calibre Productions, Grand Opera House, York, until Sunday. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or visit the website at grandoperahouseyork.org.uk