Star rating; **** After a couple of nights of cancelled performances and inclement weather, it was the perfect night on Friday for some al fresco Shakespeare. This is the seventh year of Bard in the Botanics and - apart from for hayfever sufferers and those intolerant of midges - it is becoming the must-do event of the summer, even if there has been recent competition from touring Globe Theatre outdoor productions.

Star rating; ****

After a couple of nights of cancelled performances and inclement weather, it was the perfect night on Friday for some al fresco Shakespeare. This is the seventh year of Bard in the Botanics and - apart from for hayfever sufferers and those intolerant of midges - it is becoming the must-do event of the summer, even if there has been recent competition from touring Globe Theatre outdoor productions.

The first of three summer Bard in the Botanics shows is that troubling comedy The Merchant of Venice (the ostensibly lighter Much Ado About Nothing and a youth production of Love's Labour's Lost follow later in the month). Director Gordon Barr's decision to set the play in 1930s Italy lends itself well to the text, although a greater feeling of impending mass inhumanity could have heightened the tension even more.

The cast of 10 sported accents from all over the place, from American to Irish. The loudest laughs and genuinely pleasing comedic moment came with the Prince of Aragon (Tom Duncan) and his priceless, verging-on-speech-impediment performance. The three casket sequences did provide the lightest moments (Andrew Root's Prince of Morocco was particularly memorable) although there were times it came close to Carry On Caskets, especially with the wide-eyed and knowing looks of upstage Nerissa (Jennifer Bates).

The two crucial characters, Shylock and Portia, were played by John P Arnold and Sarah Chalcroft respectively. Arnold's Shylock avoided stereotypical melodrama and instead provided a measured and modern moneylender. Chalcroft's Portia had stature in abundance and also an androgyny that was well suited to the final scenes of cross-dressing and mistaken identity. Sometimes the distinction between the many dual-roles failed to be made clear enough by mere costume changes and mannerisms but overall it was a fine ensemble effort all round for this slick sell-out performance.

Runs until Saturday.