PLAY On was much more than a "student project", but rather an inspired retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night through the dramatic lens of commedia dell’arte with guest appearances from Punch, Pierrot and Pantalone.

As much as I love the original play, I never find it particularly laugh-out-loud funny and the treatment of the pompous Malvolio unnecessarily cruel. In this production the gags came thick and fast.

Viola (an excellent Fizz Margereson), now dressed as a man, performs a hilarious monologue referencing transgender comedy. She likened herself to 'Bob’, the character Kate in Blackadder who, mercifully ignores her mother’s advice ("…please go on the game; it’s a steady job and you’d be working from home") and is hired as his manservant.

There were "in-house" jokes and, as you would expect from the commedia dell’arte influence, saucy sexual innuendos (almost) delivered with the panache of the great Frankie Howerd. Ant and Dec were in there too with a none-too-subtle reference to Britain’s Got Talent (great juggling) and game shows etc.

Anyhow, back to Malvolio. Robin Datta played the role with a degree of dignity - well, as much dignity as a three-foot nose stuck on your face allows - and the song performed while incarcerated through the cruel ensnaring of Maria was genuinely moving.

Also touching was Jack Harberd’s (Count Orsino) performance of Come Away Death. There were fine performances by all of the cast, especially Hannah Young as Olivia, and even other splendid noses (Chris Murphy as Sir Toby and Silv Pybus as Sir Andrew).

Robert Hollingworth and Omar Shahryar deserve huge credit for this splendid production. P.S. the orchestra were superb and who was the guy who did the minimal scene changes dressed as Henry VIII in drag?