Director Zoe Seaton need not be worried if I describe her fourth production of The Dream as nonsense on stilts. After all, one of the appealingly zany facets of this promenade version for Creation Theatre Company is the sight of Oberon (Chris Porter), king of the fairies, striding majestically among the foliage, towering over us with lofty authority.

What makes this production fizz is not just the scale and movement - the audience starts off sitting on logs near the box office, but is led by the mischievous Puck (Patrick O'Reilly) deeper into the park as the action unfolds. The other key ingredient is the contribution made by visual consultant Paul McEneaney - the performance is peppered with circusy tricks of the eye. They wouldn't leave Jonathan Creek nonplussed, but they were delightful in this setting: characters clambering out of 'empty' boxes, lights appearing and disappearing in the actors' hands, and even a decent levitation stunt. A lad of about three sitting near me exclaimed, as Puck popped up: "It's magic again!"

Admittedly, the play offers wide scope for shenanigans: Egeus, a courtier, recruits the Duke of Athens to order his daughter Hermia (Anna Stranack) to marry Demetrius (Andrew Hodges). She is none too keen, and prefers Lysander (Pete Ashmore); meanwhile Helena (Hannah Summers) is in love with Demetrius, who drools over Hermia.

They all run away to the woods where Oberon is at loggerheads with his queen, Titania (Richard Neale - pictured, who avoids high camp in portraying a female); Oberon resorts to instructing Puck to dab Titania with a floral potion that will mean she swoons over the first creature she sees - hoping to spite her, but also to apply the drops to Demetrius, who Oberon has overheard arguing with Helena. Keeping up?

That's before the 'play within a play' segment, in which a gaggle of craftsmen draft a performance for the Duke. One of these is Bottom (Richard Kidd, pictured), who ends up half-donkey and Titania's paramour, thanks to Puck.

While the second half is enjoyably rumbustious, it is not always easy to follow - especially as the cast make frequent, deft costume changes behind the greenery. The slapstick in the late stages raised plenty of laughs the night I saw the production, but the zaniness threatened to overshadow the content at times.

There wasn't a weak performance to be seen, but Kidd stole the show towards the end, posing in mock-heroic style, the head of a brush serving as the plume on his helmet (a colander), before his cloak slipped off 'accidentally' to reveal a lurid pair of pants. The production is at Headington Hill Park until Sept 13. Box office 01865 766266.