‘Utterly bonkers” the man behind us proclaimed as Wind in the Willows drew to a close. And I couldn’t have put it better myself. I’d tried in the interval actually, hissing at Creation’s chief exec and producer Lucy Askew — “How can I review this? It’s nuts,” to which she responded. “We’ll take nuts. Nuts is good.”

Enormously fun, utterly compelling, seriously off-the-wall, mesmerisingly atmospheric and pretty surreal, were other observations I’d like to add after the festive treat in the lofty heights of the North Wall, aka Toad Hall, AKA a deserted theatre.

In fact, if I had any criticism it would be that Wind in the Willows is so enveloping with interactive scenes and characters, robbing you of your senses with its all-encompassing dancing, singing, street-talk, plot, imagery, technology and all sorts of other jiggery pokery, that the hiker’s opening storyline was almost a step too far for an overwhelmed audience. As amusing as the random sketches of the actors arguing amongst themselves were, we were all too busy concentrating on what was going on, to be deflected.

What with Toad’s wonderful pop song (of which Simon Cowell would be proud), car racing, weasles’ street patois innit, the pantomime dame jail break, the great train ride, Ratty’s rapping and OCD and Mole’s duffing up, #sic, it was hard enough to follow the elements of the original plot, as it was.

Suffice to say, Creation’s offering is much more subversive than last year’s classic offering of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, 2014 being more of a work in motion, the homemade, slightly dishevelled, unkempt and unwashed (can’t Badger have some trousers?), touch being totally convincing and of course carefully calculated.

Which all makes for an entertaining rollercoaster ride of a show that leaves you slightly bewildered at the end, as if you’ve been run over by a juggernaut or ambushed by a large friendly dog. What would Kenneth Grahame have thought? Who knows! But then, with Alice in Wonderland as a reference point, and the play set in his old school’s former swimming pool, perhaps nothing would surprise him. One thing’s for sure — I’d been Creationed.

The Wind in the Willows
The North Wall, Summertown
Until January 10
Call 01865 766266 creationtheatre.co.uk