It seems it's four-hundred-year-old-play season at the Old Vic right now!

The plot is loose to say the least, concerning a company of actors putting on a play which follows the love story of Jasper and Luce, and the trials their elders put them through. After a couple of scenes, however, the play's financiers burst in, eager to have their own (somewhat different) say in the plot, involving dragons, knights, bears and certainly no fornication. The resilience of the actors is tested to the limit.

 The show, however, must go on...

The set and costumes are lavish and impressive, colourful and vibrant. The feel is most certainly one of an early-17th century theatre - go to see one of Shakespeare's comedies at The Globe in London today and you get a similar (though more effectively air-conditioned) atmosphere, and the compact nature of the New Vic Studio makes it very intimate, increasing the sense of liveliness and fun.

The cast are generally very good, as one expects from students of the Old Vic Theatre School, dealing well with a declamatory style of acting unfamiliar to modern theatre, and impressively staying in character even just before the first and second acts begin as they set the stage. 

Andrew Macklin in particular as the Actor Manager throws himself into his role with vigour, and Poppy Roberts as Susan Pickles is also hard to ignore, not only for her quite irritatingly life-like Bristolian accent. These two are by no means the only outstanding performances, however. Last but not least, the choral singing sections are among the highlights of the evening, simply lovely.

The modern adapting of plays is often a problem in that choosing how to present an antique play to today's audience is hard to get right. In this case, by simply playing the piece extremely close to how the original would very probably have been, the right kind of mood for an evening of excellent entertainment is set fantastically. It's a little different to watch at first, but one soon gets used to it, and in a script so laden with slapstick, even those who can't follow the dialogue will get plenty of laughs for their money. The piece is pure farce right the way through, brilliantly executed to hilarious effect.

Overall, it's a very enjoyable play to watch. I went in expecting... well, nothing special. I left having had my mind changed and my evening made more amusing. I got soaking wet on the walk home from the train station, but when it meant I got to watch this, it's a sacrifice I'm prepared to make. If laughter is good for the soul, this is a 17th-century heaven.

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