As England pursue World Cup glory, the hero of Tutti Frutti’s new show for children aged three and above has more modest footballing ambitions. Joey just wants to make it to the pitch in time to play in the cup final, but life keeps getting in the way.

There’s not much to Evan Placey’s script, which has a sparse but appealing storybook quality, as the action is confined to one morning and the various mishaps encountered by Joey and his mum on the way to the big match. Laundry blunders, pharmacy trips and missing half-time oranges are delays to the journey and excuses for ingenious visual sequences – the real star players in this game.

Director Wendy Harris captures the vivid imagination of childhood, when one thing can effortlessly transform into another. With resourceful simplicity, the breakfast table becomes a football pitch, a water bottle becomes a rocket on its way to the stars, and Joey’s prized football is everything from a shower head to a snowball. As Joey and his mum, Danny Childs and Eden Dominique are an exuberant double act, their balletic kicks, flicks and turns revealing the art in the beautiful game.

There are moments that stretch the premise to breaking point, but Tutti Frutti are brilliant at showing the triumph in the everyday. Despite the title, Keepy Uppy is less about football than it is about the bond between mother and son, who together can turn even the dullest chore into an adventure. In the end, whether or not Joey scores his big goal doesn’t really matter, as long as his number one supporter is on the touchline. Expectant England fans, of course, might take a slightly different view.