Holly Springs - Don't be fooled by Bare Theatre's name. While the first part refers to the company's uncomplicated style and minimal requirements, the second part takes the emphasis. This highly theatrical company regularly mounts Shakespeare with a depth of understanding and a joy of presentation to shame many a professional theater, no more evident than in its current production of "Twelfth Night."

Director Heather J. Hackford supplies all the requirements of a successful production. The principal factor is the absolute clarity of diction from every cast member, down to the last messenger. The actors know the full meaning of what they say, the true key to playing Shakespeare. And each character is individually drawn, enacted with vitality and a spirit that embraces the audience rather than alienates it, as many modern Shakespeare productions do.

Hackford makes the play a true comedy, emphasizing vivid physicality and a boisterous pace, yet never shortchanging the poetry or emotional truths. Other stagings may delve deeper into psychological underpinnings or stress more lyrical phrasing, but few give such satisfactory balance -- and without the burden of a "concept."

Bare Theatre has a core of actors who appear in most productions, thereby carrying forward the company's well-established principles. Carmen-maria Mandley takes on shipwrecked Viola, and her disguise as the male servant Cesario, with infectious brio, her wide-eyed innocence a constant source of charming humor. Rebecca Blum brings a sly sophistication to countess Olivia, then hilariously jettisons it when Olivia falls for Cesario. Kacey Reynolds brings Olivia's conniving servant Maria to raucous life.

Bare Theatre's usual policy of casting several Shakespearean male roles with women takes on even greater interest here. Sarah Schmitt plays Malvolio's pretensions and preenings without the excesses some actors impart, and it's intriguing to hear a woman spouting the character's chauvinistic platitudes. Court jester Feste benefits from Tara Pozo's unflagging high energy and physical dexterity (she spends a lot of time draped over platforms and fellow actors). Joyce Davis gets double laughs as the Sea Captain with "his" lecherous advances toward Viola.

The true male contingent fares almost as well. Khoa Pham gives Duke Orsino youthful dash and Seth Blum adds a bumbling, "regular guy" quality to Viola's twin, Sebastian. Matt Schedler's Toby Belch and Jeff Buckner's Andrew Aguecheek may be blander than expected as these ripe comic characters, but they get points for not overdoing the drunkenness and foppery.

The production, seen at the Holly Springs Cultural Arts Center, has many fine technical attributes. Chief among them are the richly colorful period costumes by Jeremy David Clos, especially when seen against the simple black unit set under Andy Park's precise lighting. Only G. Todd Buker's music for the songs (and the cast's singing) seemed weak.

The atmosphere may change a bit for this week's run at Durham's more informal Common Ground Theatre, but the entertainment quotient should not. Few Shakespeare productions would be more suitable for first-timers of any age, or as an antidote to a bad experience previously with the Bard.