WHATEVER liberties director Chris Jaeger has taken with this classic - and there must be quite a few - no one could dispute that the Bard of Avon would probably have approved.

The piece starts as it means to go on.

The fairies cast their spells on the audience with some decidedly interesting floor routines and then the play starts in earnest with high-energy performances from Liz Grand as Titania and Jonathan Darby in fine form as Oberon.

Jaeger has done a neat bolt-on job with Shakespeare's homage to the Arden forest. He paints layer after layer of wit, ad libs and visual humour. Dream is probably the most folksy' in the Shakespeare canon - there are many nods in the direction of his native Warwickshire with countless allusions to the greenwood, the magical plants of the forest floor and all their implied mystical properties.

Richard Curnow's Puck neatly narrates the couples' tangled love lives, the hilarious scenes of mistaken identity and the resulting confusion.

The young suitors, Lysander (Simon Bell) and Demetrius (Kit Windows-Yule) make for utterly convincing swains and Helena (Katherine Jones) is particularly adept in her demanding role.

Special mention should also be made of Freneka Munford's spirited take on the character of Hermia.

The Mechanicals sustain their humour throughout, led by the anatomically impressive Bottom, hilariously played by Simon Atkins.

The Invitation Company's version of this seasonally appropriate play runs until Saturday, June 23. Well worth checking out.

John Phillpott