There’s a rave in a cave – and you’re invited to the party. Deep inside Buxton’s eerie Poole’s Cavern, theatre group Butterfly present a high-energy romp through one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, a promenade performance with live music set at the Forest of Arden underground music festival.

Butterfly have taken up residence in Poole’s Cavern for the past few Fringes, and always make good use of the otherworldly atmosphere generated by the caves and their stalactites and stalagmites. Their Macbeth was a huge success, and last year they brought a show based on Dracula, so a comedy might seem an unusual choice for the location. But it works very well – reflecting the fact that the bulk of the play takes place away from court, in a strange place where the normal rules don’t apply.

When condensing Shakespeare to an hour, it simply isn’t possible to adhere too reverentially to the text, and Butterfly play fast and loose with it in smart ways. The initial feat of strength with which Orlando impresses Rosalind is cleverly done, with a twist which throws us straight into the play. And from then on, the production continues to hit all the right marks. Jacques’ “seven ages of man speech” is nicely done by Michael Shon; Orlando’s terrible poetry is distributed amongst the audience; we also get Rosalind’s teasing of Orlando, and the comical misunderstanding between Orlando, Silvius, Phebe, and Ganymede/Rosalind.

There is a sense that some of the cast aren’t entirely comfortable with Shakespeare’s verse, but it’s the women who get it right and accordingly steal the show. Sophie Hughes is an effervescent and impetus Celia – it’s a shame she has so little to do in the second half of the play – and director Hayley Cusick makes a downright sexy Phebe. Ganymede looks terrified at times!

Rosalind is the key to As You Like It, and Hannah Grace-May does a fine job in the role. I particularly liked her girlish flirting with Michael Idris (a muscular Orlando), and her truculent teenage teasing when she meets him later as Ganymede. In later scenes, though, the speeches get a little strident, and this is one of the downsides of Poole’s Cavern – the acoustic isn’t great in places, and Shakespeare’s sparkling wordplay was a little lost.

The music is a great idea, filling the gaps as the actors move the audience around the inside of the cave. All in all then, it’s a good combination; the music, the fantastical setting, and the magic of one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays.