On many levels, Shakespeare's late romance Cymbeline is daft. It boasts mysteriously kidnapped children and an Act Five tying-up of enough loose ends to macramé a hammock. No wonder the RSC decided to entrust these trans-Britain high jinks to that endearingly quirky Cornish company Kneehigh.
Kneehigh has staged unlikely tales before, most recently Angela Carter's magic-realist novel Nights at the Circus. It tackles Shakespeare in the same way, with an action-stuffed, ensemble-led production.
Increasing familiarity with the company's work, however, reveals a problem: the end products are remarkably similar. Carl Grose and Emma Rice have largely retained the original's plot, but kept little of its language. The result is a pared-down, revved-up look at fractured families and forbidden love.
Grose and Rice emphasise the fairytale aspects and amusingly play up the plot's absurdities by using a pantomime dame-type (excellent Mike Shepherd) as a framing device.
Yet this humour sits uneasily with the strong surges of emotion that the real anguish of the separated lovers, especially Hayley Carmichael's resolute Imogen, generates.
Even so, with a little tweaking this would be perfect for the Christmas (up)market.
Until 30 September at the Swan, Stratford Upon Avon, then at the Lyric Hammersmith in January 2007. Information: 0870 609 1110; www.kneehigh.co.uk
Cymbeline
