Review: Batman Live ***

Holy Broken Technology Batman! Just when you thought it was over and the Caped Crusader had defeated his arch enemy The Joker the evil villain seemingly outwitted his nemesis by bringing the whole show to a temporary halt.

It was no joke as Batman Live’s first night at Sheffield was in danger of going Kaput instead of Kapow, but thankfully no doubt due to superhuman efforts by the technical team the riddle of the dark night was solved and Batman returned to the delight of bat fans of all ages.

And they’ll have been pleased to see a veritable cave full of bat baddies join together in another vain attempt to foil Gotham City’s finest.

Step forward The Riddler, Two Face, Poison Ivy, The Penguin, Catwoman and the rest but I fear there’s a new villain in town. A master of mediocrity, a tamer of tension, the sultan of slowness... it’s the dreaded “Elfin Safety”.

When you long to see a frenetic action scene, packed with break neck speed and spectacle, Elfin whips out his risk assessment to ensure all is safe on stage.

Fair enough of course, so don’t expect death defying eye-popping thrills and spills. Instead sit back and enjoy a glossy Gotham production paying homage to the Bat’s DC comics heritage.

Biggest cheer of the night comes when Bruce Wayne tells his youthful ward Dick Grayson “I’m Batman”. Thankfully anyone familiar with that other costumed hero Spartacus declined to join in by proclaiming they were the Caped Crusader.

As the story unfolds Dick becomes Robin and the dynamic duo set about ridding their society of the out-of-control bad guys and gals. Early on Dick points out the problem is that Gotham has more criminals than police. Later The Joker extols the virtues of random chaos.

How long before we see the Bat Signal above Downing Street? As someone who remembers watching Adam West don the cape and cowl back in the sixties, I found Catwoman in her figure hugging catsuit had a certain charm.

The young lady sitting next to me said it was the best thing she’d ever seen. My niece Isobel is six.

To August 14.