The Jester's Tomb is a short verse play by actor/playwright Mary Glaspole. It has been performed at several venues in Oxford since its premiere in 2012, including the Old Fire Station and Headington Parish Hall, and this is its second visit to Oxford Castle.

The play takes its themes from Macbeth and from the Marillion song ‘Script for a Jester's Tear', telling the story of a young couple who book into a Scottish hotel, once a castle, that was the scene of a doomed romance between a jester and a princess. Finding a box of costumes in their room, the couple take on the roles of jester and princess for a masked ball, and find themselves haunted by the ghosts of the castle's past. Act II – the stronger half of the play – features a retelling of the Jester's story.

The verse reading by the cast was generally good, particularly by James Egan as the Sexton. At various times, however, several of the cast were a little too quiet to be heard clearly, given the outdoor venue and swirling wind. Indeed, the venue proved to be a blessing and a curse; while Oxford Castle is an imposing and apt setting for the play, the inevitable distractions – particularly the tourists wandering around (and occasionally onto) the stage – made it difficult to build up an atmosphere. This was not helped by the decision to stage the play in broad daylight, and it is a shame that it could not have been put on later in the evening. The setting sun and creeping darkness would have been the perfect complement to Act II.

In contrast to the verse reading, some of the physical aspects, such as the dancing and swordplay, seemed a little awkward and perhaps under-rehearsed. The ending of the play also seemed quite abrupt, with no resolution to the story of the couple from Act I or exploration of how their relationship was affected by their involvement in the jester's story.

All in all, The Jester's Tomb is a charming and quirky mediaeval ghost story and it was just a shame that more people didn't turn out to see it.

The Jester's Tomb is a medieval style tragicomedy. Its initial venue was Headington Parish Hall, but that was really a preview as the performance transfers to Oxford Castle in August. It didn't seem entirely ready for the audience (not least in the shortage of programmes), but fortunately the bad bits are temporary; the good are permanent.

The plot of The Jester's Tomb involves romance, a haunting, and a Princess who can not marry a Jester. There is dancing, a swordfight and the occasional telling of jokes. In short a full complement of Medieval entertainments.

The music was atmospheric and highly suitable. The acting, especially that of the Sexton (James Egan) and Duchess Aylith (Eleanor Rush) was excellent. No lines were fluffed and there was genuine presence whenever the Priest and Judge (Peter Thomas) was on stage.

Now to the writing. The Jester's Tomb is a two-act verse play and was written by Mary Glaspole (who also plays Princess Felicity). It is set in the Scottish castle of Anthericum around 1300. The play was inspired by Marillion's Script for a Jester's Tear ("In the playground of the broken hearts") and Shakespeare's Macbeth. The lines are clever and occasionally sparkling, and the cast delivered them well. On occasions we found the plot a little tricky to follow but I suspect this was more to do with various distractions specific to the venue, such as house lights on throughout.

So, should people go and see it? Unequivocally, yes. It will next be on at Oxford Castle. This is the proper setting for (to quote the programme) "a tale of rivalry, chivalry and bloodthirsty murder'. A previous performance of The Jester's Tomb sold out at the Old Fire Station in 2012 and there is no doubting the quality of the writing, the acting and the choreography.