Director Chris Hamley said Twelfth Night was one of the easiest Shakespeare plays to understand.

"Twelfth Night is a show I performed in 1996 - I'm a big fan," Hamley said.

"It is a lot of fun, full of frivolity, laughter and really cool music ... it is the closest thing to a musical that Shakespeare ever wrote."

Hamley said he adopted reggae for the production because it is "a fun, party style of music". "There's a lot of slapstick comedy, it is a real family show.

"You rarely get to see shows outside, and usually it is street theatre but this is a full show, the sort of show that audiences can come and bring a bottle of wine and a picnic."

Twelfth Night tells the story of shipwreck survivor Viola, who believes her twin brother Sebastian drowned in the shipping disaster. She is stranded in the mysterious Illyria, disguises herself as a boy, and enters the service of the handsome Duke Orsino. Orsino is madly in love with the beautiful Countess Olivia, but Olivia falls madly in love with the boy, who is actually Viola. Mistaken identities, misdirected passions, high comedy and unexpected poignancy follows the tales of love in all its many disguises.