As You Like It, Old Laundry, Bowness.

You can tell when Shakespeare is being performed well; you don’t have to concentrate to understand the 400-year-old language, the meaning comes across as clearly as a BBC newscast. Mastery of the verse was just one of the joys of Judith Notley’s brilliant and witty As You Like It.

Four centuries faded away as an astonishingly talented cast turned Shakespeare’s cross-dressing tomfoolery into a delightful evening’s entertainment. Sarah Brett’s Rosalind was a tour de force and could have graced a West End stage. But this was nonetheless an ensemble piece, combining meticulous attention to detail with an infectious joie de vivre.

There was so much to like: the artful and amusing programme, Kate Reid’s stunning costumes, the truly villainous villains; the clever use of colour, from the red-and-black of the despot’s court through warm green in the friendly forest to the rainbow colours of the happy ending.

Director Notley made intelligent use of the Old Laundry’s almost theatre-in-the-round acting space, helped by Andrew Barrow’s sparse but brilliantly-effective set and lighting design.

Some of South Lakeland’s best-known actors threatened to steal the show as 'trees' and various assorted farm animals as Notley cleverly livened up the slower moments in the plot with visual gags.

Every one of the huge cast of 27 had something memorable to offer. Ciara Preston was simply perfect as Rosalind’s foil Celia, while Lewis Hill’s Orlando offered just the right degree of male totty - he even looked and sounded like a youthful Colin Firth. Mark Crook bounced erratically around as the fool Touchstone and there was a comic cameo from Britain’s Got Talent veteran Steve Hall.

Anne Pater marshalled a dozen musicians playing original music with lusty and surprisingly good singing from all.

This collaboration between the Old Laundry, Kendal College Performing Arts department and the newly-formed Fools Players was a fitting tribute to Shakespeare, who died 400 years ago. May it be first of many.

Oliver Wates