REVIEW: The Box of Delights at the RSC *** (three stars)

There is a foolish delusion that most parents fall into at some point when contemplating what lovely toy they should get their cherished young offspring for Christmas.

Mine was a beautifully-made wooden walker with exquisite pastel-coloured alphabet bricks that fitted pristinely into the dinky tray atop its four perfectly carved wheels. I imagined my genius toddler trundling around proudly pushing her new walker come Christmas morning, perhaps pausing for a spot of Wordle or some such precocious word wizardry with her wee bricks.

Alas, reality came crashing in with the arrival of the grandparents and their cargo plane-load of garishly coloured, noisy and plasticky Fisher-Price merch that she bashed about with glee and abandon for hours on end come the big day itself. My walker, full of retro charm as it was, sat forlornly in the corner.