After impressing Shanghai’s Shakespeare lovers with last year’s production of King Lear, Shanghai Repertory Theater is back with timeless comedy Twelfth Night. Producer Rosita Janbakhsh has assembled a cast of incredibly gifted actors, who bring the stage alive with their deftly crafted portrayals.

This production is set in 1939 on the eve of the Second World War. Instead of the traditional shipwreck, it is a plane crash that separates twins Sebastian and Viola. They both wash up on the shores of Illyria, an island where japes abound, and mistaken identity ensues. As in all of Shakespeare’s comedies, all’s well that ends well, but not before several humorous plotlines have been played out.

A simple white set allows the actors to shine, and shine they do. Viola is played by SRT veteran Natasha Portwood, and brings the right mix of confidence and bewilderment to the role. Her demeanour is the ideal complement to Verena Hüegel’s Countess Olivia. Hüegel is a vision of 1930s glamour in a series of fitted suits, and her transition from grief to lust for Viola’s male guise, Cesario, is well timed.

The comic sub-plot involving Malvolio, Maria, Sir Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek is similarly well played. Mustaq Missouri’s drunken Toby is pure comedy, as is Christy Shapiro’s Hispanic Maria. Jordan Baszner brings just the right amount of slapstick to his portrayal of Andrew, and Patrick McQuillan’s Malvolio is pensive and refreshingly unbombastic.

The stand-out performance, however, is Laurie Padgett Fralick as the Fool. In a sea of muted beige and green costumes, her bright red tunic and feather headdress stand out, and her supple capering and gorgeous singing voice enliven the stage.

Twelfth Night runs until April 3rd at the Ke Center, so there is still time to catch it.