Keeping kids glued to their seats for an hour usually calls for junk TV. The Box Show pulls it off with junkyard theatre. And all without even speaking a real language, just a bubbling gibberish fizzing with random bursts of English, French and Spanish (there may be other tongues in there). There’s no real plot for little minds to lose, only four big personalities in technicolor outfits, a towering set of cardboard boxes and a soundtrack built live from every boom, bang and boing the performers can coax out of their surroundings.

The music is almost entirely made live on stage, with instruments ranging from thigh slaps to hand pans; even the audience’s clapping, oohing and ahhing is conducted with surprisingly impressive results. The four performers are magnetic, with real chemistry that sparks between them and the crowd. Even the dads dragged on stage are emboldened by the contagious, party-like atmosphere, jiving and bopping away. The show races from scene to scene, each one creating a new mood; from a peaceful rainy day to a bustling kitchen where culinary equipment becomes a clattering mini orchestra. There are renditions of ‘Smooth Criminal’ and (sorry) ‘Baby Shark’. They play whisks, they scrape sand, they slap wheelie-bin lids and, occasionally, each other. It’s joyful chaos from start to finish. 

The Box Show, Assembly George Square, until 24 August, 1.50pm.