Rainbow Theatre continues its mission to make Shakespeare accessible with one of his most light-hearted plays.

The story of Beatrice and Benedick's witty sniping before falling in love is a surefire winner and it's not just the lovely setting which keeps the audience rapt.

This play has been reinvented in recent years with productions highlighting the homoerotic camaraderie of the soldiers.

Rainbow will have none of that - this is a straight production, high on broad laughs, low on subtlety.

Indeed, with the hissing of Ian Payne's too-villainous Don John, it seems more like pantomime than Shakespeare.

Some of the smuttier lines scarcely raised a smile with the Worthing audience. And too many of Dogberry's malapropisms fell flat - although it was no help having Verges, like a pedantic echo, provide the right word after every howler.

The real plus of the production is the central pairing of (real-life husband and wife) Hilary Jane Wood and Andrew Long. Wood in particular is excellent as a merry Beatrice, literally dancing when describing her birth.

It is a fast, action-packed retelling but the temptation to go for the easy laugh dampens Shakespeare's own lines. This is a witty play but it should be more rapier than bludgeon.

On until Sunday, July 23. Call 01903 206206.