IF you want to be reminded of what an exciting play Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is, go to the Crypt in Dublin Castle. There, a group of 16 young actors, mostly the product of drama schools and university dramsocs, have assembled under the name of Loose Canon productions to perform it. Without a set, and with reach me down costumes, they bring the work to vivid and engrossing life.

On entering the tiny venue, you find the cast seated on bare benches around a square playing area, dressed in a variety of slacks and tops, and you might be forgiven for anticipating a workshop evening.

That pessimism is soon dispelled as the actors begin to speak and characters begin to be shaped. With unusual precocity, they deliver the verse with naturalism and meaning, and always lucidly.

The force of the lead performances, and the unobtrusive excellence of the support roles, soon draws the audience into the drama.

There is great dramatic clarity in the unfolding here of this classic tale of ambition and its fall, honour and duplicity, friendship and betrayal.

Director Jason Byrne has harmonised his actors so as to strike sparks off each other, investing scene after scene with dramatic tension. One forgets the lack of a set, and the addition of a few assorted great coats bring a military flavour to the later scenes. Despite the lack of facilities, he adds felicitous touches throughout the production to stimulate the imagination.

He is fortunate in his actors. Karl Quinn is a magnetic Mark Anthony, a real find. There is a commanding Brutus from Mark d'Aughton, an actor with an interesting CV. Steve Nealon is an unusually forceful, choleric Cassius, and other performances to impress are Susannah de Wrixon's intense Portia, Anthony Wright's Caesar and David Pearse as Casca.

Each of the cast makes a serious contribution to a fascinating evening, a triumph of youth.