Camping it up

The gardens of Lincoln's Inn offer a beautiful, if not acoustically ideal, setting for Shakespeare's whimsical, ghostly late comedy.

And things begin normally enough, with the cast looking austere in 1940s dress, Carolyn Tomkinson very moving as the wronged wife Hermione and Robin Kermode turning in a strong performance as her enraged and jealous husband, Leontes.

Then, after the interval, everything suddenly goes completely bonkers.

Director Chris Pickles has clearly decided we need The Winter's Tale - The Pantomime, and so Crispin Harris, who played a slightly camp Antigonus up to the break, reappears as a panto dame Old Shepherdess, moaning to the audience about having to wear a tatty frock.

The old woman's sheep shearer son (also played by Kermode) turns up as a teddy boy. The petty thief Autolycus becomes Autolyca, played big-time musical-OTT style by Lindsey Danvers, complete with a beehive and snakeskin boots. Both King Polixenes and his servant Camilla turn up dressed as ageing hippies to spy on his son.

So much emphasis is placed on hamming it up and pulling faces that there's little attempt to convey humour through the actual lines (the only exception being the penultimate scene where the 'gentlemen' discussing the rapidly unfolding events are played as Cockney charwomen).

The result is an increasingly tedious performance that fails to convey any of the magic of Shakespeare's play.

Until Aug 31, North Garden, Lincoln's Inn WC2, Mon to Sat 7.30pm (Sun Aug 31 6pm), Sat mats

2.30pm, £16, £12 concs. Tel: 08700 600 100. Tube: Holborn

The Winter's Tale