A classic English comedy, set in Italy, starring English actors employed by an Italian theatre company - this adaptation of The Merchant of Venice was destined to be different.

But there is different and there is Shakespeare Kiklos Teatro style. Here, The Merchant Of Venice is treated to a cheeky transformation by award-winning director Malachi Bogdanov.

Through exaggeration of the best, and particularly the worst, aspects of human nature, Bogdanov vividly reinvents Shakespeare's characters as extravagant, hilarious and often dark cartoon-type figures.

The deep and unconditional friendship of Antonio and Bassanio is given an ingenious and saucy twist.

While giving communion, Antonio, a corrupt priest, shipping merchant and money lender, puts more than just a slab of bread into Bassanio's mouth.

This gay innuendo adds a hilarious new dimension to the play allowing the cast to camp it up and take the historic script into an alternative comic realm.

Bassanio is presented as a bisexual Italian stallion with a dodgy accent, designer suit and over-active pelvis and Antonio is a horny gay priest who doesn't let his robes get in the way of a bit of action.

Bare foot and pregnant, Portia is a giggly slapper on the prowl for a husband and her maid is a guitar-strumming nun with a penchant for dope smoking rastafarians.

Although slapstick from start to finish, the cast did well to maintain a dark undercurrent which reared its head most chillingly during the persecution of Shylock the Jew.

Kiklos Teatro use a trampoline, a doorway and a landscape of wooden boxes to recreate Venice with remarkable success.

One act, 120 minutes and non-stop laughter - Shakespeare doesn't get funnier than this.

Komedia, Gardner Street, Brighton, until Saturday