It’s impossible to talk about the annual Storm on the Lawn, the Theatre Royal’s summer school production, staged in the open air in Prior Park’s Ball Court, without mentioning the vagaries of the weather.

The Storm title stuck from the very first show which was The Tempest and it has proved a talisman or omen in succeeding years, although the number of whole-show cancellations can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

On this year’s opening night the skies miraculously cleared after a day of dismal rain and fine evenings blessed the rest of the week.

As usual, the 60-strong cast, aged from 12 to 21, threw themselves into the action with infectious enthusiasm and precocious talent.

Jill Bennett, who had adapted Shakespeare’s script, could have made a confusing comedy around two sets of twins absolutely impossible to follow, since the twins were played by five pairs of actors – in order to give as many youngsters as possible a crack at the leading roles.

However Heidi Vaughan’s direction and colour-coded hats and baseball boots, avoided total bafflement and the actors slipped into character seamlessly.

Each time new actors took on the twins’ roles the action froze and restarted with the same mini-dance ritual. Very cunning and achieved with remarkable discipline.

John Biddle’s musical direction included some excellent a cappella singing and a few instruments, all sung and played by the cast.

The set and the approach path to the ball court consisted of piles of assorted scrap – and I’m still trying to fathom its connection to the play. But anyway it was fun.

Although it is a total team effort, Jo Jukes and Ciaran Mullally stood out as a promising comedy double act as the jewellers.

The production is about absolute commitment to the show, on stage and backstage and the audience is invariably swept along with the momentum generated by the entire crew.