When I walk into the Larkum Studio to sneak a preview of ETG’s Much Ado About Nothing – the show that’s toured Europe over the Christmas holidays, now transferring to the ADC stage – the cast and director (Geraint Owen) are standing in a tight circle, eyes closed. I momentarily worry that I’ve interrupted some kind of cult practice, but quickly realise this is in fact a warm-up game for the close-knit team.

In December, Much Ado toured France, Switzerland and Belgium, largely performing to groups of European schoolchildren and university students. Geraint outlines the challenges of this, explaining the whole team’s awareness that for the kids, this could be the first time they see Much Ado, a Shakespeare play – or indeed live theatre. From the beginning, his quest has been to allow the students to “fall in love with Shakespeare for the Shakespeare,” and he therefore didn’t want to obscure the original writing, and what the play was about for the Bard, behind a heavy concept. The reception of the play has been overwhelmingly positive, with a particular highlight being a boy who rather audibly whispered “this is so cool” to a friend during the show.

I ask the cliché question – ‘so what is the play about then?’ – and am pleasantly surprised at the concision of the Director’s answer. “Performance,” he tells me, highlighting the play’s concern with trickery and deception. He explains they got to this answer as a company, holding a ‘fake supervision’, complete with whiteboard, to map out the different themes with which the play is preoccupied, and felt that it all led back to an interest in the very act of performance.

This becomes manifest in the staging of the production, inspired by the carnivalesque. Costumes are colourful; music is fun (we’re promised Cuban-style Mozart and string quartets doing pop). The set and all the props come from a giant white box placed on the stage at the start. Aside from making the continual get-outs simpler, the box brings an exciting metatheatricality to the show.

The colour and joy of the post-war celebrations create a vibrant and bright first half, contrasting with the second half, which quickly becomes less pleasant as a more ‘real’ world and its gender structures begin to interrupt the fun. But the team have taken care to not present this simply as a play of two halves, setting up the presence of these more problematic facets from the opening: it’s the same world. And at the end of the play – despite the traditionally comedic ending of the wedding – they’re keen to give a sense of everything not fitting back quite so neatly in the box.

Hero has been a continual source of discussion throughout the rehearsal and performance process, with Geraint and Saskia West (playing Hero) engaging in regular debate about how to create a character with a bit of bite, who is not merely silent – but who still fits with Shakespeare’s writing. A key part of this is the characterisation of Leonato: Geraint thinks he gets off the hook a little too easily with his treatment of his daughter, but Joe Tyler Todd is taking care to ensure he doesn’t become a cardboard cut-out villain.

Of course, everyone remembers Much Ado for the charming romance of Beatrice and Benedick, and Shimali De Silva and Stanley Thomas do not disappoint. The pair have excellent comic timing and an easy naturalness which make their scenes together a joy to watch.

While the team know the show inside out – having performed it more than 11 times – there remains an impressive playfulness in the rehearsal I watch, with the cast still looking to interrogate, debate and play with the lines – and to have fun while doing so. Audiences this week are in for a treat: this show is quality, matured Shakespeare.

Much Ado About Nothing is on at the ADC Theatre at 7.45pm, 16-20th January