Shakespeare's summer delight

A Midsummer Night's Dream resembles a slumber party

By Joanna Wilson, Victoria Lindrea and Leigh Mytton BBC News Online Entertainment staff

Romeo and Juliet at Regent's Park open air theatre

The drab grey skies and odd spot of rain did not prevent the audience from enjoying this jaunty, stylish production.

Set in the 50s, it was slicked back hair and tailored suits for Romeo (Alan Westaway) and friends and glamourous outfits for their female counterparts.

Twelfth Night has an all male cast

There is no doubting that the youthful looking Laura Main captured Juliet's naïve innocence. But occasionally, this was marred by her being just a little too giggly and girly.

Combined with Romeo's swaggeringly confident manner, it sometimes made the more serious outpourings of teen angst, passion and grief rather unconvincing.

But whilst the audience was suspended in a haze of frivolity, the tragic turn of events seemed to spring out of nowhere, instead of gradually escalating out of control.

Of the other cast members, John Hodgkinson and Benedict Cumberbatch are particularly worthy of praise, Hodgkinson as the lively Mercutio whilst Cumberbatch's thoughtful Benvolio was a joy to watch throughout.

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As You Like It at Regent's Park open air theatre

High-waisted trousers, frock coats, bustled dresses, oversized bowler hats and long johns gave this production a flavour of the Wild West.

Yet the rustic characters all seemed to hail from the West Midlands and Duke Frederick looked like he had gone AWOL from the Austro-Hungarian Army.

But it worked. Orlando was ably played by Benedict Cumberbatch. He was neither too gushing or feminine and it was fun watching him take on burly Charles in the wrestling - his slight frame offering a comic contrast.

The worst of the British weather failed to faze the cast

Rebecca Johnson (Rosalind) has a wonderfully floaty voice and I feared she would not be convincing as a boy. I needn't have worried. Her Ganymede was an earnest, believable adolescent.

John Hodkingson's Touchstone had the air of an Old Time Music Hall wag. He is tall of stature and his presence was larger than life, too.

He emerged from the bushes with shirt untucked, trousers unbuttoned and Audrey in tow - and flashed his pants in the hilarious "quip modest" exchange.

The worst of the British weather failed to faze this cast. All credit to them.

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Twelfth Night at the Globe theatre

Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night can be too sentimental, too verbose to pull off "laugh out loud" guffaws. But here, with an all-male cast and a defiantly Elizabethan interpretation, it is hilarious, even bawdy.

Viola meets her match

The stand-out performance of the night was Mark Rylance in the role of Olivia.

Gliding across stage as if on casters - his feet hidden by billowing skirts - his mannered femininity was a joy, both steely and soft, coy yet flirtatious.

Paul Chahidi excelled as Olivia's saucy maid Maria, more butch but just as feminine in her wiles: setting up the hapless Malvolio for his deserved fall.

Music underpinned the production's more thoughtful moments, with Feste's songs adding an emotive note to Duke Orsino's (Liam Brennan) soulful outpourings.

The sibling likeness between Sebastian and Viola was inspired and telling them apart is difficult and highly amusing. But their final reunion was filled with emotion: love, joy and aptly song.

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A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe theatre

A set strewn with pillows and duvets and players clad in pyjamas and nightgowns seemed more suited to a slumber party than a glade near Athens.

But once piled up, the linen offered a fair depiction of Titania's bower.

Bottom's ears were fashioned from a pair of mules

As Puck, Simon Trinder leaped like a ballet dancer or Kung Fu fighter in turns, complementing Scotsman Paul Higgins' aggressive Oberon.

Meanwhile, Louise Bush's ditsy Hermia quarrelled well with Phillipa Stanton's overbearing Hermia.

Hitches aside (Oberon's crown began glimmering when he was Theseus and Puck re-emerged as Philostrate with lights aglow) the fairy lights flickering to signal a change in role proved an effective device.

The gloomy weather failed to dampen the spirits of the audience, who enjoyed plenty of belly-laughs.

Bottom's ears were fashioned from a pair of mules (get it?) and, wrapped in Titania's cloak, he resembled the strangest kind of superhero.

A little tinkering with the text - to include words such as prolapse and circumcision - added to the bawdy fun.