There were no swordfights or murders, and the crazy Cossack dancing was a highlight.

This is not what I thought I’d be writing about watching open-air Shakespeare, but then watching the Changeling Theatre’s outdoor summer tour shows always has its surprises, writes Angela Cole.

Artistic director Rob Forknall summed up Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost – one of two plays the cast is performing at venues across Kent this summer – as “Everything is covered in loveliness” to me shortly before curtain up on opening night.

In the always picturesque setting of Boughton Monchelsea Place, near Maidstone, opening night was my first experience of Changeling not in scorching heat but rather with threatening clouds and buffeting winds.

Maybe the cast lead a charmed life, as starting off with the audience wrapped in blankets and even one woolly hat in evidence, the heavens never actually opened, the wind dropped and the show was unaffected by the elements the whole evening.

A lesser known Shakespeare comedy about young love, Love’s Labour’s Lost was a chance for some character acting to really shine.

The whole cast, who changed costumes and characters repeatedly, were all brilliant, but it would be remiss not to pick out a couple of particularly excellent performances.

Simon Yadoo, whose impressive film credits include the Constant Gardener and Muppets Mots Wanted, brought the house down (if that’s possible in the open air) with his Spaniard Don Armado, while Kathryn Perkins showed true versatility as the diverse characters of the genteel Princess of France and Costard.

There was the usual smattering of unexpected dance routines – the show resumed after the interval, for instance, with a version of Harry Styles’ As It Was – and the final scene included some frenetic dancing, but it was the Russian Cossack routine which stole the show.

The King of Navarine and his three men appeared disguised as Cossacks, complete with beards, and proceeded to kick and whoop in a crazy fashion, which was both hilarious and seriously energetic. Hats off to them!

The lack of real ‘action’ within Shakespeare’s text was made up for by all the elements of Changeling coming together perfectly – from the acting and direction, to the lighting, costumes and music, to make it yet another winning formula.

The cast will be at numerous venues across the county, including for the first time, two Shepherd Neame pubs, the Three Mariners and the Belle Vue Tavern, this summer with this production and the School for Scandal, until August 20.

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