Every now and then, a show comes along to fill your heart with song. Nocturne, a 45-minute musical based on classic Norwegian fairytales, is one of those delights. Composed by and starring Hedda Rustad Carlsen, and featuring a large and talented cast, it’s as sparkling as the fjords and as warming as a Nordic sweater – but it also tells a thoughtful story of self-discovery, which kids and grown-ups alike can enjoy.

The traditional stories are briefly summarised, in cartoon form, in the beautiful programme you’ll be handed at the door. Much about them feels familiar: there are talking animals, witch’s curses, a mysterious house in the woods. But the distinctly Norwegian character of these fairytales comes through in the storytelling, with its emphasis on the mountains, the forests and the lakes: all of them seductive, yet crackling with risk. Everyone in the forest is lost, it turns out, as Carlsen links the separate tales into a clever single narrative – which itself pays due homage to the stories we all tell.

The acting is superb throughout, whether it’s Em-J Smith playing a coldly irresistible siren, or Jack Stringer’s crestfallen portrayal of a lonely bear who can’t quite remember what he’s looking for. The bear’s costume is a masterpiece too, huge and imposing on the compact stage, and it’s one of many such visual treats: trolls’ faces seem carved from boulders, a dragon-like horse sweeps across the sky. The forest is realised with a thicket of tree-trunks, which close in around the characters as danger nears.

Musically, while nothing feels derivative, Nocturne settles into a familiar groove. The opening song, with its joyful call to the mountains and sky, wouldn’t feel out of place in a Disney film, while an action-packed later piece – featuring Stringer again – has the DNA of the comic turn in a Broadway musical. There are well-judged reprises, an echo of an apposite classical theme, and an exciting beat for the final showdown. All the singers are strong, but Carlsen in her role as Solveig stands out most of all, with the vocal clarity and measured power that befits a modern heroine.

The youngest of children might find a few images scary – particularly when the masked and ambiguous spirits of the forest creep around the trees – and there’s one moment when the grislier side of fairytales is acknowledged on the stage. But in general Nocturne is a carefree, spirit-lifting joy, filled with captivating song and the visual flourish needed to help our imaginations fly. If I had a magic flute of my own, I’d whistle up a ninety-minute version and a transfer to the West End. But see it first in Edinburgh, and you’ll have your own story to tell.