Weren’t we lucky, then, that the sun shone bright for the Festival Players’ annual performance at The Gate Farmhouse, Itchington, in aid of the charity Combat Stress.

The beautiful grounds opened early for the audience to enjoy picnics under the gazebos or on blankets in the sunshine, because this is by far the best way to enjoy The Bard’s brilliant comedy ‘As You Like It’.

The Festival Players are a traditional all-male troupe who share all the roles – including the women – but in the play where the main premise is about a cross-dressing maiden this works out to be fabulously confusing.

Written in1599, As You Like It is part comedy, part romance. It sees love blossom for several couples in the Forest of Arden, where the exiled Duke Ferdinand has fled and where principle players Rosalind and her cousin Celia follow him, keen to find love in the forest.

You would never believe that just six actors make up the entire cast for As You Like It, swapping roles (and costumes!) in the blink of an eye, as well as singing and playing the guitar when necessary to music written especially for this show by Gloucestershire folk hero Johnny Coppin.

At just under two hours, this production is particularly accessible to students and young folk – as well as being probably one of the best adaptations you will ever see.

To find out where else the Festival Players will be performing this summer, please visit www.thefestivalplayers.co.uk For more information on Combat Stress, a charity that helps ex-service personnel suffering from psychological injuries and mental health problems, log on to www.combatstress.org.uk.