When there's no set and minimal props, all that's left is the acting. And the acting has to be very good for the play to fly. That the audience gave an enthusiastic round of applause at the end of the opening night performance of Shakespeare's 'As You Like It', is very clear evidence of very good acting.

The play follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in the court of her uncle, Duke Frederick. She is accompanied by her cousin Celia and Touchstone the court jester, to find safety and eventually love in the Forest of Arden, where her father, Duke Senior, has taken refuge upon being banished from court sometime earlier.

Seven actors in various guises graced a ducal palace, filled a wrestling arena and peopled a forest in the Aquila Theatre Company's most recent production at the City Hall Arts Centre on Thursday as part of the Bermuda Festival.

With such a small cast, there was obviously the need for doubling up, and some of the doubling made for interesting interpretations.

Howard Crossley, for example, played both the evil Duke Frederick and his amiable elder brother, Duke Senior, whom Frederick had stripped of his title, wealth and daughter. This gave a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde element to the production's portrayal of leaders – one insecure and loathed despite his outward authority, the other respected and content despite his loss of everything except his life.

That Crossley was able to portray both so convincingly speaks volumes of his ability to get inside the skin of a character.

Another interesting casting choice was to have the melancholy Jaques (who pronounces, "All the world's a stage …") played by Lucy Black. This added a sexual tension to the relationship between the exiled lord and his faithful retainer, who, when the exile is over, chooses a solitary life in a religious house over a triumphal return to the glittering life at court.

Jaques' departure added a bittersweet element to the happily-ever-after multiple weddings with which the play concludes. That her costume was masculine also added to the ambiguity of the character and the relationship with her lord.

Central to the action of the play is the relationship of the cousins Rosalind, played by Leandra Ashton, and Celia, played by Lauren Davis. The two women complement each other, at court Celia taking the lead in all that they do, while when in exile in the forest of Arden, Rosalind comes into her own. Ashton's portrayal of the moment of Rosalind's infatuation with the young Orlando was delightful, and her attempts to behave in a convincingly manly manner very funny.

Ashton's Rosalind was suitably independent minded, strong-willed, good-hearted and clever. The femininity Davis gave to Celia was the perfect foil to Rosalind's masculine disguise.

While the serious themes of leadership, brotherhood, court versus country and love in all its forms are important elements of the play, it is, above all, a comedy. And the comic elements and stage business of this production were very funny.

While the other characters changed costume, Touchstone, the fool, retained his motley – in 20th C guise, a jockey's outfit complete with neon pink racing helmet – reinforcing just how out of place he is in rustic Arden. His wooing of the down to earth, Wellington-booted Audrey (played by Lucy Black) added further humour.

The sycophantic courtier Le Beau, resplendent in his Madras cotton Bermuda shorts, white knee socks and brimmed sun hat, was exquisitely portrayed by Damian Davis, who also did an admirable job of acting the love-sick Silvius. His Charles, the champion wrestler, was a World Wrestling Federation look-alike, complete with mask and spandex singlet, which elicited laughs as soon as he entered.

When a play is as well-known as Shakespeare's are, it is a challenge to present something new and fresh. The Aquila Theatre Company rose to that challenge yet again, providing local theatre-lovers with another delightful production.