Oh no! Not only is this Twelfth Night delivered in Russian, at the beginning the whole company marches on to the stage dressed in identical sets of black trousers, black braces, and white shirts. Furthermore, this is an all-male production, so it looks as if we might be in for a confusing evening.

Within minutes, however, blond-haired maid Maria (Ilia Ilyin) changes into a skirt, as does cool countess Olivia (Alexey Dadonov). But it's not only the clothes that change: magically, the whole body language of the two actors is also transformed, so you immediately forget that you first saw them as men. Following on, everybody else changes into colourful and appropriate costumes (designer: Nick Ormerod) the visual effect is like chrysalises turning into butterflies.

This Chekhov Festival Theatre production is being toured in the UK by Cheek by Jowl. The director of both companies is Declan Donnellan. This Russian Twelfth Night bears all the hallmarks of his style, in particular his tactile use of both male and female body language, and his very effective, choreographic placing of the various characters on stage. In an interview for The Oxford Times, Donnellan told me that his actors are free to move to a variety of different positions each night, to keep their performances fresh. He must surely exercise iron overall control to prevent anarchy from breaking out, but it's certainly an artistic policy that works very well.

It's possible to read a homoerotic agenda into Twelfth Night, and Donnellan explored this area in his 1985 production for Cheek by Jowl. That agenda is present here too, but it's only lightly suggested one of the refreshing aspects of this production is its absence of campery and effeminacy. However there's a neat exploitation of the erotic possibilities of cross-dressing when "Cesario" (Andrey Kuzichev) is finally revealed as Viola in disguise. Count Orsino (Vladimir Vdovichenkov), meanwhile, seems happy to chase after both sexes.

Comedy is expertly served by Sir Toby Belch (Alexander Feklistov), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Dmitry Diuzhev), Feste the clown (Igor Yasulovich), and maid Maria. This quartet is a dream team, its every approach signalled by the clank of vodka bottles in a supermarket bag. The hilarious way they plant a fake letter, informing Olivia that her steward Malvolio is secretly in love with her, is a classic of comic timing. Malvolio (Dmitry Shcherbina), meanwhile, is every inch the impeccably dressed, humourless courtier, but you do feel sorry for him by the end.

Is it off-putting to listen to Twelfth Night delivered in Russian? Absolutely not in fact you concentrate on the original English words even more than usual by reading the very clear surtitles projected overhead. This is a memorable piece of theatre go and see it.