Appropriately enough for a play that begins with a ship wrecked in stormy seas, the rain lashed down on the opening night of Twelfth Night.

But with music being the food of love, the cast played on.

And to their relief and that of Shakespeare fans who had booked tickets for Saturday’s production, Friday’s deluge had been replaced by gorgeous sunshine for the second night.

And under blue skies, there can be few better places for outdoor theatre than the atmospheric surroundings of Peel Castle.

Having watched another Shakespeare play here a few years ago, we had come prepared this time.

Once the sun had dipped behind the parapets, the temperature fell sharply and we were grateful for the blankets and jumpers - and our picnic.

But putting yourself at the mercy of the weather is all part of the fun.

And TNT Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s comic masterpiece, a bawdy, implausible but ultimately very clever tale of deception and mistaken identity, is certainly a lot of fun.

Star of the show was the scheming Malvolio, played by Gareth Fordred.

The humourless head servant to Lady Olivia (Gehane Strehler) is duped into believing his mistress is in love with him and provides the play’s comedy highlight as he emerges on stage with his Puritanical black swapped for bright yellow cross-gartered stockings.

Playing the fool was Jon-Paul Rowden as wisecracking clown Feste, never short of a one-liner - ’Better a witty fool than a foolish wit’.

And Glyn Connop excelled as the flatulent, ever drunken Sir Toby Belch.

For his part, the noble duke Orsino (Jean-Paul Pfluger) was perhaps a little too revealing, sporting very little under his towel. Many in the audience were not too sure where to look.

Ultimately, of course, love wins through in this comedy of errors as Orsino discovers his servant Cesario is actually a girl, Viola (Rachel Middle), whose identical twin brother Sebastian, who she had believed had been lost in the shipwreck, pairs up with Lady Olivia, who thought she was marrying Cesario.

Confused? With Viola looking nothing like Sebastian, suspension of disbelief is certainly needed.

All’s well than ends well then - except for the descent into madness of the spurned Malvolio and his call for revenge.

TNT, which is presented by the American Theatre Group performed a matinee production under sunny skies at Rushen Abbey the following afternoon.

We looking forward to their early return to Manx shores. They will always be assured of a good reception but we can’t make any promises about the weather.