Mike Drennan saw Creation Theatre's performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Magdalen College School gardens.

All Shakespearean comedy can, to some extent, seem outdated. Wonder, then, that Creation Theatre has made a thing of such hilarity of this tale of improbably comic characters and malicious fairies that mess with people's love lives.

We start with a wide circle in the gravel, suggesting the "full circle" that things will come in the story. Reminiscent of the moon -- whose illusory, magic influence floats through the play -- this is also a mockery of the closed little worlds of the play.

The setting is perfect, with trees and river backing a grove perfectly suiting the play's action, which spills from place to place in the imaginary wood as the night moves on. Supplemented by subtle and eerie lighting, live torches and well-chosen music, the effect is magical.

The cast is very strong, grasping every nuance of character, each moment of wit. Special mention must be made of Darren Ormandy's exquisitely strutting Bottom and Jamie Bower as Demetrius and Peter Quince.

Their "play within the play" works perfectly as a fantastic parody of actors and audiences; it is brilliantly funny exactly because of its deliberate awfulness.

All the peripherals are right too -- costumes are well-suited; copius pyrotechnics (fairies with fireworks!) have the necessary "oooh" factor, and Puck's displays of magic are David Blaine- esque.

Yet nor do they miss the play's quieter messages. In the end, Dream is a parody at all our expenses; it tells us that, in trying to find someone to love, we all make "asses" of ourselves.

There is enough to delight any expert, then, but Dream's great virtue has always been its accessibility.

The story is easy for everyone, including children, to follow.

Hilarious, pacy and exciting, this production will keep you engrossed. You will not see a better Dream, or a funnier Shakespeare production, than this for many, many moons.