Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds

The Abbey ruins provided an exquisite setting for one of Shakespeare's favourite plays, which was performed by the Bury St Edmunds Youth Theatre.

Under the shadow of the new cathedral tower, the young cast rose to the challenges of the environmental factors of a full-blown outside production, which included a cat straying across the set!

This was the director's (Phil Croton) last production with the theatre and he achieved so much from the cast who performed enthusiastically for two hours without an interval.

Peter Quince (Rebecca Fuller) and Bottom (Greg Hanson) led the team of waifs and strays of travelling actors, but their respective quest for control of the group provided many a laugh.

At times the fairies mingled with the audience under the mischievous direction of Puck (Jaz Kluge).

There were some strong performances by many characters combined with well-co-ordinated stage direction.

This was especially so with the altercations between Hermia (Emily Slack), Helena (Eleanor Beasley), Lysander (Matthew Dolman) and Demetrius (Sam Lesser).

As if by design, the happy ending coincided with the sun setting over the cathedral and the cast.

A well-presented production with oodles of hard work from all the cast who must have been proud of their achievement.