Twelfth Night contains all of the ingredients you would expect from a Shakespeare comedy - cross-dressing (for no particular reason), mistaken identity, wise clowns and enough love splashing around to keep (almost) everyone happy, once the various misunderstandings have been untangled.

In brief: the Count Orsino loves the Countess Olivia, who loves Cesario, the Count's page, who is really a girl called Viola, dressed as a boy. Viola, in turns, loves Orsino. Viola's brother, Sebastian, is wandering around, although Viola thinks he drowned in a shipwreck. And meanwhile, Toby Belch, Andrew Aguecheek and Feste the clown play games with the pompous steward Malvolio. Confused? Don't worry - it's surprisingly easy to follow.

This production takes an unusual and striking approach - the scenes with Olivia, Orsino and the other 'noble' characters are played as though they are being shot on a film set. We see the director, lighting designer and stage hands arranging the set. In between takes, the subplot of Toby Belch and the other 'downstairs' characters unfolds. In some ways, this division of the action doesn't quite make sense - the different staging techniques split the two story lines in ways which jar against the tightly constructed plot. Yet it is an enjoyable and imaginative experiment nonetheless, foregrounding the important motifs of deceit and illusion.

The director did well with a few props, and the costumes were an especially nice touch - especially the boater hats and striped blazers of Viola and Sebastian which evoked the careless mood of an Edwardian boating party, splendidly suited to this warm play.

Most importantly, the performance boasted a young and extremely talented cast, who comfortably moved between hilarious farce and the more somber or touching scenes which drift through Twelfth Night like clouds on a summer's day. I thought Baboucarr Ceesay was superb, relishing the role of Toby Belch, and Steve Bews was perfect as his sidekick, Andrew Aguecheek. Nicola Burgess was a lively and cheeky Viola, conveying all the spirit and charm of that archetypal Shakespearian heroine.

All in all, another immensely enjoyable evening at the Pegasus, one of Oxford's less well-known venues. A gifted cast in an inventive staging of one of the freshest, funniest plays around. Highly recommended.

George Tew, 02.06.04