Scholars have long debated what category Shakespeare's late plays belong to. Are they comedies? Tragedies? Fairytales? Northern Broadsides' latest production leaves no doubt that The Tempest is a rollicking jazz musical.
The musical arrangements of composer, actor and associate director Conrad Nelson have become Northern Broadsides' secret weapon, and here he provides a dash of Dixieland swing. Caliban states that the isle is full of noises and launches into a Louis Armstrong cakewalk to prove it. The wedding masque has a stirring gospel flavour, while the supernatural atmosphere is reinforced by the ethereal sound of vibes.
The costumes, however, are distinctly 18th century, so perhaps director Barrie Rutter means to read the play as a colonialist metaphor - Gonzalo's reference to the island as a "fair plantation" leaps out in this context.
Yet Rutter's chief innovation is to interpret Ariel as a girl group: Nicola Gardner, Simone Saunders and Belinda Everett divide the tricksy spirit's lines between them, adding some slinky Motown moves and harmonies along the way.
Lis Evans's set is a simple, rustic structure and Rutter, never an actor to pass a barn without storming it, delivers a Prospero who gives credence to Miranda's line "your tale, sir, would cure deafness".
The usurping lords are a dry, whiskery lot; but the tempo picks up considerably in the comic scenes. Simon Holland Roberts and the versatile Conrad Nelson play Stephano and Trinculo as a pair of mincing Scousers, appalled by the stink of Michael Hugo's feral Caliban. Hilarity is not usually the first thing you associate with The Tempest, but the final word ought to go to a satisfied A-level student on the way out. "That," he declared, "was the funniest thing I've ever seen."
· Until March 17. Box office: 01782 717962. Then touring.
