It’s a nifty move on the RSC’s part to choose a piece that celebrates the power of storytelling and then to proceed to tell this very story in so engaging a way. Adaptor-director Dominic Cooke puts his 18-strong acting ensemble to such various and appealing use that he creates the best Christmas-time offering Stratford has seen in years.

The premise is well-known. King Shahrayar (Silas Carson) discovers his wife has been unfaithful and has her put to death. From here on, he decrees, this same fate will befall each new bride after a night of marriage. Yet Shahrazad (Ayesha Dharker) suspects that her cunning way with a bedtime story might be the solution and enlists her spirited sister Dinarzad (Chetna Pandya) to help.

Thus begins a sequence of six tales, of varying lengths and familiarity. We’ve all heard of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and Es-Sindibad the Sailor but I particularly relished the winding account, previously unknown to me, of the Envious Sisters, the redemptive ending to which dovetails neatly with Shahrazad’s own lot.

A strong current of joyous vitality runs through every section, even though the first half at the preview I saw did feel over-stuffed with a prologue and four separate stories. Dharker anchors the action with confidence, making her Shahrazad warm and sinuous, and from among the multi-role-playing cast, there’s particularly fine work from Adura Onashile as a variety of feisty females.

The opulent costumes are a particular treat. One especially cherishable moment sees the Forty Thieves reverse their black cloaks to reveal colourful silken linings, representing the cave packed with ill‑gotten loot. We’re as gripped by all this as the King is, and it would be a crime worthy of a royal beheading if London audiences don’t get a chance to savour it.

Until 30 January (0844 800 1110, www.rsc.org.uk).