Local darlings Creation Theatre have teamed up with London company The Factory to produce a Hamlet like no other. Held in the round in the Norrington Room of Blackwell’s in Broad Street, this is a semi-improvised rendition of arguably Shakespeare’s best play.

This production involves the audience from the outset. Everyone attending is asked to bring an object along for the actors to use as a prop. The night I went props ranged from a ball of wool to a toy plane. At the show’s start, the actors play rock, scissors, paper with members of the audience in order to decide which actor plays which role.

All this helps to create a unique experience for both audience and performers each night, bringing spontaneity outside of the rehearsal room.

A roll of police crime scene tape featured heavily in the opening of our production, where the ghost of Hamlet’s father (played by Scott Brooksbank) ran around the stage and audience, connecting bookshelves to each other. It’s this ghost that sets Prince Hamlet (Meredith) thinking that something is rotten in the state of Denmark. He concludes that his mother, Gertrude (Joanna Croll) has married his father’s murderer (Claudius, here played by John Hopkins). Hamlet aims to expose this in spectacular, theatrical fashion.

Although running at an unusually short two hours and 45 minutes, this is not an accessible Hamlet. This is due to the lack of props and scenery (the players are granted only a bare stage), no costumes (some of the actors look as if they’re dressed to paint the kitchen) and no overt, pre-planned reading of the text. Owing to the company’s method of starting each show afresh, the text is completely in the actors’ control — which is an incredibly brave move.

Thankfully, the actors are resourceful enough to make the show work. Despite the inevitable moments of gimmickry (although, surprisingly, the production doesn’t feel gimmicky as a whole) and the fact that some jokes fall flat, there is enough off-the-cuff genius here to stick with it. When the actors seem to remember the stage’s trapdoor, sometime in the second half, it’s used well and there’s a real sense of danger and urgency here which make the text feel fresh.

This is not the best Hamlet you’ll ever see — but then it doesn’t try to be. It aims to reflect on the relationship between actor and audience and between actor and actor in ways in which this critic has never seen before. And that’s more than worth the admission price.

n Until March 24. 01865 766266 (www.creationtheatre.co.uk).