Walking through the beautiful old buildings and tranquil gardens of Merton College on a sunny summer evening, you don’t expect to be transported to a post-apocalyptic feudal kingdom marked by betrayal, debauchery and madness. But that is exactly what we experienced at the Oxford Theatre Guild’s 60th anniversary performance of Shakespeare’s King Lear, showing in Merton College’s Fellows’ Garden until 18th July, including a matinee on Saturday 11th July.

We leapt at the chance to see King Lear and were eager to see the plot unfold the way Shakespeare intended. We weren’t disappointed – the performance was very enjoyable and engaging, and it should be noted that no prior knowledge is necessary!

We were surprised to become emotionally attached to characters as the play went on, something that certainly rarely happens with Twelfth Night or Much Ado. In King Lear, there is a humanity about the characters – we see not only their strengths, but their flaws and failings as well. Of course much of this believability is down to the quality of the writing, but the actors really breathed life into these fragile characters, and there was no woodenness about their interaction.

As reviewers at the dress rehearsal, we were privileged to also see a bit of behind-the-scenes action. What was immediately clear was that the Oxford Theatre Guild (“Oxfordshire's leading theatre company for non-professional actors”) is one big happy family. And this degree of familiarity and security really comes across in the electricity between the actors on stage. We see and believe the whole range of human emotion: courage and tenderness, lust and grief.

What was also clear from the start was how many hours must have been spent in preparation. The performance was impeccable, mixing perfectly delivered lines with elements of fun – jesting, drinking, and singing. And as we huddled under our rugs in the breezy summer evening, the sky got gradually darker just as the play got darker.

The set itself was fantastic; nestled between three trees it made the perfect royal hall or hideaway for characters on the run. In this atmospheric setting, the soundtrack interacted smoothly with the rustling of the trees.

The costumes allude to a 1980s-style apocalyptic world, in which Lear heads up his gang of followers. The title character was compellingly played by Joseph Kenneway – you watched him go from a carefree retired king to a distressed outcast, a shell of his former self.