‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” sang adult members of the audience — we were styled ‘the giants’ — as the charming festive production Dear Father Christmas got under way at the Burton Taylor last week.

And indeed — as the picture on the right shows — the Oxford studio theatre could scarcely have looked more Christmassy, with its paper streamers, decorated tree and lots and lots of gift-wrapped presents.

We were in fact being welcomed into Santa Claus’s grotto at the North Pole, as fashioned by designer Anna Bruder. There we would watch as the old boy made his final preparations for the big event of his year — his annual journey by reindeer to the bedsides of every child in the world.

Actually, not just watch but join in the packing and sorting of the gifts. Helen Eastman’s hour-long entertainment calls for the transformation of the junior members of the audience into Santa’s helpmate elves.

Not always that helpful. One young lad involved in the task of sorting the present-request letters into colour-coded bins simply dumped his handful into the most convenient receptacle and sat down again. It was a hoot to watch.

Supervising the job was the chief elf, Deirdre (Helena Johnson) who also introduced us early on to Mr Tick-Tock (Richard Evans). whose job is to synchronise the planet’s clocks for the delivery. The later cast of characters included both a friendly polar bear and, of course, Santa himself.

Until December 24. Box office: 01865 305305 (www.oxfordplayhouse.com)