Occasionally, updated productions of Shakespeare can make you reactionary in your theatrical taste. This beautiful and richly detailed production of Romeo and Juliet is performed in elaborate period costume and works wonderfully.

This is a tremendously professional production delivered by a hard-working cast totally immersed in the play, no matter how small their character. (A few technical quibbles: there are some really quite pathetic pillars that wobbled anytime somebody went near and chunks of completely inaudible dialogue overwhelmed by sword-fighting).

Apart from that, the quality of this production was such that absolute professionalism and competency can be taken for granted. I am, then, forced to think of other things to review. There was an intricate sound design from Soosan Lolavar; unnerving and often beautiful original music from Jude Carlton; as well as a gorgeous and complex lighting design from Robert Mills. Consequently the heat and intrigue of Verona beat down upon the cast and audience.

One would expect the production to rest on the shoulders of its eponymous lovers. Yet I came out extolling the virtues of the chorus. This was when the production became something special. It was a fabulous depiction of an on-stage world. Each member of the chorus became a character with a story in their own right, flitting in and out of the action, often present without speaking.

But is it right to come out of a Shakespearean tragedy praising the chorus and the production design the most?
Well, the acting was certainly impressive. Lucy Evans was a captivating Juliet, drawing laughs with an unusually headstrong determination but proving herself a magnetic tragic actress. Jack Monaghan has proved that he can do troubled adolescents and it works better with Romeo than with Hamlet.

Otherwise, James Walker made a brilliant other-wordly Mercutio, with an electrifying delivery of his Queen Mab speech; Catriona Cahill was the best nurse I have ever seen, very funny and desperately sad. The entire cast performed with understanding and aplomb. It was just that the chorus of grieving onlookers were so ingeniously directed and well acted, that they conversely sidelined rather than highlighted the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet themselves. Cambridge productions are rarely as good as this. Don’t miss it. By Oliver Soden