The stage is set for the return next week of Shakespeare-on-the-water at Worcester College. The production of The Merchant of Venice by the student drama group the Buskins is thought to be the first major dramatic offering for more than half a century to make full use of the college’s lovely lake. The last was Nevill Coghill’s legendary 1949 take on The Tempest which featured an Ariel scampering across lightly submerged duckboards for all the world as if walking on water.

I had expressed the hope last year in this column that the notable tradition might be revived at Worcester following the arrival as Provost of the distinguished Shakespearean scholar Jonathan Bate. Well, now it has, with Prof Bate proving hugely supportive — so I am told by director Lucy Dawkins — in trimming through some of the red tape that might otherwise have strangled this ambitious enterprise at birth.

He has also loaned his little rowing boat, Perdita, for use by characters in the play. A larger vessel, borrowed from Christ Church boathouse, will be richly decorated to present the luxurious barge on which Thomas Hilton’s Bassanio — lavishly bankrolled by his friend Antonio (Lloyd Houston) — journeys to present his suit to Portia (Hannah Gliksten).

The aforementioned actors, along with Barney Fishwick as Shylock, are among the cream of student players involved in the show, all of whom have been rehearsing long and hard over the past weeks.

Lucy promises that the production will offer a feast for the eyes, with designer Zoë Guzy-Sprague’s set festooned with paper lanterns and the gondola dock at the water’s edge blazing with the rich colours of Venice. Worcester’s spacious grounds will also look their best for visitors, thanks to the efforts of college gardener Simon Bagnall and his team. Music supplies an important element in the production. Chris Williams, who is completing his Masters degree in composition at Worcester, has composed special pieces, including a jig for the dancing ensemble who will close the show in fitting style to choreography from Worcester alumnus Hannah Moore. Wezi Elliott, a lutenist from the Royal College of Music, will feature among the players.

Lucy Dawkins, outgoing president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society, has her sights set on a career in professional theatre. She has a clear view of what she intends to achieve here. “Many scenes start halfway through conversations. I am building on this to suggest what is almost a conveyor belt of Venetian life, in all its hurly-burly and hustle and bustle.”

The play runs from Tuesday to next Saturday. For information go to shakespeareonthelake.co.uk