If non-stop laughter is, as it surely must be, the measure of success in any comedy, local young theatre director Joel Froomkin, has scored a row of aces in his effort to bring Shakespeare to the masses.

True, his decision to set `The Merry Wives' in Bermuda rather than Windsor, and in the 1950s rather than the 1590s will perhaps irritate, if not outrage, Shakespeare purists. The packed, first night audience, however, loved every minute of this sparkling comedy.

His production certainly reinforces the point that Shakespeare's humour works as well today as it did for those Elizabethan masses who were laughing their heads off at his play more than a decade before the Sea Venture was wrecked off Bermuda. On the debit side, of course, `modernisation' detracts from the very sense of timeless universality which is at the heart of Shakespeare's genius -- do we really need it hammered home? Whatever your preference, this version of `The Merry Wives of Windsor' cannot fail to please in its sheer exuberance and non-stop rollicking, even slap-stick humour.

It would be inaccurate to describe Joel Froomkin merely as the director of this piece, as he is also responsible for the ingenious design of the spectacular revolving set, as well as capturing in his costumes, the post-war `New Look' fashions which, by the 1950s had even spread to distant Bermuda.

It is his direction, however, that will linger in the memory, with its freshness of approach, and a sense of almost manic energy which sustains that split-second timing so essential in a comedy that slants toward the farcical.

At times, the speed is almost too break-neck, with some of the best lines lost in the giddy, emphatically visual round of antics that move the play forward.

On the whole, though, this is a production that totally engages the attention, even during scene changes where Louise Cabral, Dee Edmunds and partners remind us of the days when people actually danced together to such tunes as `Would you like to swing on a star?' Froomkin seems also to have fostered a strong team spirit in the large cast, with some of Bermuda's best actors stepping forward to take relatively minor, but rewarding roles.

Legend has it that Queen Elizabeth I requested that this `entertainment' should feature that great comedic figure, Sir John Falstaff, already loved by audiences (and presumably, her) from the plays of `King Henry IV' , Parts I and II.

One of the weaknesses in this Bermudianisation of the play, is that, ultimately, so few of the cast speak with Bermudian accents. Shakespeare complied with his audiences' love of stereotyping people through their accents, which explains the presence of the Welsh parson, Hugh Evans (Paul Lowry re-affirms what a fine actor he is in this role), and a posturing French doctor, hilariously played with more than a hint of the `Inspector Clouseau' influence, by Thomas Saunders. Anyone expecting a definitively Bermudian Falstaff is in for a disappointment, however: Sean Dill has stepped firmly out of his `Not The Um Um' shoes, to produce a Falstaff whose declamatory speech could pass muster at Stratford or the Barbican.

`The Merry Wives' finds the fat knight in the provincial town, down on his luck which he resolves to improve by seducing both Mistress Ford and Mistress Page -- though driven more by their money than by lechery. Unfortunately for the scheming knight, these wives are "merry, and yet honest, too'', and proceed to teach Falstaff some cautionary lessons.

For those who feel a certain pang at the thought of the mighty Falstaff's humiliating defeat by a couple of housewives, Sean Dill's portrayal is an instant reassurance. Visually, he is heaven-made for this role but, as always, brings also a fine understanding to the character which he plays with a certain world-weariness, shades of his former splendour revealed only in the grandeur of his would-be amatory declarations to his intended victims (the wives).

The role of the jealous husband, Mr. Ford, who spends much of his time disguised as Mr. Brook in his efforts to test his wife's faithfulness is, perhaps, the true plum role of this comedy. Phillip Jones seizes the moment, and delivers a bravura performance -- who will forget his wonderful `Scottish' accent and a disguise which finds him togged out in tartan kilt, cap and sporran? (He enters to the stirring tune of `Scotland the Brave'). His wily interviews with the unsuspecting lecher alternate with frenzied outbursts of jealousy as he tears off in hot pursuit of his quarry, leaping into laundry baskets, diving under and over sofas and even beating up old women in his determination to find the offending Falstaff.

Laura Bardgett (Mrs. Ford) and Beverly Crick as Mrs. Page form the formidable duo who outwit Falstaff. Some of the very best moments of the play belong to these two, as they discover, through identical love letters, the old soldier's duplicity, and the scenes as they twice announce the impending arrival of the jealous Mr. Ford just as Falstaff is getting down to speaking `the prologue' of `love's comedy'.

The total professionalism of Arthur Lugo (Mr. Page) is, as always, a joy to watch -- other aspiring actors might study his total absorption in a role, even (or especially) when he is not speaking.

Connie Dey takes on another of the pivotal roles, that of Mistress Quickly.

Wondrously decked out in a series of crisply laundered `house dresses', she is vivacious to the point of being, at times, slightly `over the top' as that curse of many communities, the meddlesome `know it all'.

In the smaller roles there are some outstanding performances, notably from Tim Taylor as the plain-speaking Host of the Garter, George Rushe as the crotchety Justice Shallow, Steve Watts as a lolling, lollipop-sucking Simple, Paul Woolgar as Master Slender, and Danjou Anderson as Pistol.

As would be appropriate, and probably expected in a court entertainment of that time, `The Merry Wives of Windsor' ends in traditional tableau style. It provides the only poetry of the play when townspeople, disguised as fairies gather round the old oak tree to confront the hapless Falstaff who has been tricked by the enterprising wives into donning a pair of antlers as he ventures into the dark forest in his third attempt at wooing Mrs. Ford.

His humiliation is cleverly balanced in the climax of this `happy' comedy when the contrasting sub-plot of `true love' finds the upright Mr. and Mrs. Page also outwitted by their daughter Anne (attractively played by Julia Snelling) who succeeds in her determination to marry the handsome Master Fenton.

The appeal of `The Merry Wives of Windsor' -- and it has always been a sure-fire box office success -- lies, apart from its undoubted humour, in the wonderful sense of realism that shines through, 400 years after its first performance.

Joel Froomkin has brought that realism glitteringly alive in his audacious updating of this old morality tale and, in the process will perhaps persuade a glaringly less well-read generation that Will Shakespeare is everything he's cracked up to be.

PATRICIA CALNAN THE ART OF WOOING -- Sean Dill (right) in the role of Sir John Falstaff gives some advice to Mr. Ford (Phillip Jones) in a scene from the BMDS production of `The Merry Wives of Windsor'.

MERRY WIVES -- Beverly Crick as Mrs. Page (left), with Arthur Lugo as Mr. Page (centre) and Laura Bardgett as Mrs. Ford in `The Merry Wives of Windsor'. The BMDS version is set in 1950s Bermuda.