Shakespeare 4 Kidz A Midsummer Night's Dream
Charter Theatre, Preston

Whatever Shakespeare was on when he wrote The Tempest, this livewire company have the antidote.

The 'mystery play' of the Bard's final period is stripped bare and reconstructed in a production that reveals it to be a romp of the first order. It may be occasionally too irreverent for some, but it's always thoroughly entertaining.

Above all else it can hold an audience of adolescents in the palm of its gauntlet for two and a half hours, at a Key Stage in their appreciation of Shakespeare.

So Caliban becomes something of a Twisted Fire Starter; Sebastian and Antonio are a prime pair of pantomime villains; and Stephano and Trinculo - with the aid of Caliban - become a knockabout circus routine that makes you mourn the passing of the Big Top.

All the movement and choreography, of a top-notch cast of 15, would not disgrace the abilities of companies with far greater resource.

Their highly-accomplished physical comedy gives the whole production an edgy, street theatre credibility, even if it does slightly over-extend the joke, and the music, once or twice. It's a Tempest that almost blows itself out about 15 minutes before it ends.

But by the time they are next in town find yourself some kidz and go. No-one will be disappointed.

David Upton