The large audience was thankful for clear skies as it watched one of Shakespeare’s most contentious plays, performed by a talented group of actors.

The cast had lost none of their exuberance and playfulness from their previous visit to Newark in June for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, despite the more weighty material.

The inventive characterisation of each role brought life to the play and, as last time, made the Shakespearean verse easier to digest for the audience.

Annabel Bates as Portia and Rosa Glover as Nerissa sparkled in their dialogues and made a brilliant comic double act.

Southwell native Miles Eagling’s performance as Shylock was another highlight.

He ably conveyed the full dimensions of perhaps Shakespeare’s most rounded character, from his self-assured arrogance and consuming vengeance, to his impassioned plea for tolerance and final brokenness.

The anti-Semitic tone that Shakespeare seeks to subvert in the play was set right at the start with an attention-grabbing mimed opening, accompanied by dramatic drumming and a cappella singing.

It echoed the creative use of the actors’ singing talents in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and introduced a foreboding atmosphere to the proceedings, but unfortunately was not repeated.

Martin McCreadie put in another energetic performance, this time as Gratiano, and turned a potentially distracting squeal of a motorbike along Castlegate into an improvised comic moment that delighted the audience.

Adam Diggle again showed off his comic credentials as Lancelot despite not being afforded the same opportunity for laughs as in his role of Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Greg Smith, Adam Grayson, Nicola Day and Christopher Coiley were all very accomplished in their respective roles as Bassanio, Antonio, Jessica and Lorenzo.

Smith and Coiley also provided hilarious turns as Portia’s suitors.

It was another wonderful evening of outdoor theatre from the Lincoln-based company, but lacking a little in the magic they conjured when last in Newark — AM.