To start its new season, Wick Theatre Company has set itself the

ambitious challenge of performing two plays on alternate nights - the first being Shakespeare's sylvan comedy.

The Forest of Arden is skillfully evoked with the play being performed in the round on a woodland floor of bark chippings surrounded by tree branches.

The effect is completed with birdsong and dappled sunlight together with original music from local composers.

The plot is a complex one involving villainy, a usurped dukedom, banishment and rustic humour.

The tale follows the romantic tribulations of four couples, the principal pair being Orlando and Rosalind who, through necessity, has to disguise herself as a man.

Hers is not the only case of cross-dressing in this production.

Women play several of the male characters, a point which weakened an otherwise good production with high-quality acting.