A flock of city-dwelling pigeons is the inspiration for this family-friendly story wrapped in circus tricks, presented by BrainFools, a London performing arts troupe. Against the grey and drab backdrop of urban life, one glum, suit-wearing man finds himself dancing and finding fun with the brightly coloured, tinsel and glitter-covered pigeons.

After a slow start to set up the loose plot (younger kids in the crowd were restless as performers marched and postured with newspapers for what seemed like longer than they needed to) comes the showing-off part. Stunning aerial work from one of the airborne female pigeons sees her carving out soft curves with her limbs and imaginary wings, while jugglers on the floor roll onto their backs and send freshly laid pigeon eggs into arcs above them. Handstand walking and front-row strokes of a tiny toy pigeon also prove to be crowd pleasers, with a graceful hand-dance display to music from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake making another feathery highlight.

One pigeon verges on slapstick with a clownish routine involving sticky plastic bags that keep getting caught in their feet (which could be an anti-litter message), alongside the anti-corporate, pro-fun themes, for those who like a bit of moral guidance in their kids entertainment. An athletic, quirky and sweet tale, told through acrobatics and lots of pecking.

Lucky Pigeons, Underbelly’s Circus Hub, until 26 August, 1.05pm.