IN an age when directors are often criticised for "modernising" classic plays out of all recognition, audiences for the Royal Shakespeare Company's current production of Much Ado About Nothing are in for a treat.

Admittedly the setting of 1930s Sicily, with Don Pedro's men returning from the Abyssinian Wars, is relatively contemporary, but makes perfect sense and does not detract for one minute from this charming romantic comedy.

Gregory Doran's production is as traditional as can be and would play well wherever it went.

The set designed by Stephen Brimson Lewis - terracotta houses with wrought iron balconies draped with honeysuckle - captures the play's charm in abundance. Into this sun-soaked world the main players adeptly weave their webs of deception, squeezing the laughs out of the audience like ripe lemons.

Harriet Walter, a feisty Beatrice to Nicholas le Prevost's initially shambolic, confirmed bachelor Benedick, is elegant and wary. Although she is resistant to love, her playfulness and knowing smile convey emotions waiting to burst forth.

Though his Benedick is older and more grey-haired than usual, le Prevost succeeds in portraying a man who appears to have lost his way in life but who, through love, gains salvation and admiration.

The supporting cast is excellent, particularly Gary Waldhorn as Leonato and the two young lovers, Count Claudio (John Hopkins) and Hero (Kirtsten Parker). Clive Wood's Don Pedro is at times overly fey but his remorse at the result of his meddling is undeniably moving.

Special mention should go to Dogberry (Christopher Benjamin), who gets all the laughs in all the right places, and to the band of musicians whose exuberant playing is truly uplifting.

It is hard to disagree with the man leaving at the end, who was overheard saying in a Brummie accent: "That was 100 per cent pure entertainment."

Much Ado About Nothing is in rep at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre until Saturday, July 13. Box office 01789 403403.

Review by Mark Jessop