The programme for this modern-verse retelling of one of Shakespeare’s problem plays tells us that the aim of the company is to smash a text apart (hence the hammer), find its essence, and then piece it back together (hence the puzzle). And it’s a good idea - if only they did it. Instead, it’s hard not to think that they should have stuck with the original.In this production, smashing a text apart and putting it back together fundamentally means simplifying the story and its themes. There is a displeasing mix of the unsaid and the said, with questions left in the wrong places. The Duke is given many lines for personal explication (something pointedly missing from the original) and the play’s closing problem, that of Isabella’s reaction to her proposal, is made insignificant by a tide of banal narratorial musings. By contrast, very little seems to be done to explain or even to explore the Isabella’s holier-than-thou imperfect moral decisions. Though the language of the piece is actually rather good, it is spoilt when used to such reductive ends.But this isn’t a waste of time. Pockets of the staging and the company reveal Hammerpuzzle as a company with talent. The use of voices and the odd instrument to create a musical soundscape for many of the scenes of the play was consistently brilliant, giving atmosphere and a sense of group culpability for the actions being played out. The staging of the bed scene was equally striking, as actors moved between naturalism and fleeting moments of stylised dance to create a moment that both looked beautiful and had great emotional intensity. Tamsin Kennard frankly stole the show as Marianna, a nuanced and gripping performance that belonged to a different show- a professional version of the original maybe? Other performances could have done with a similar level of attention to detail.I agree that it’s boring to be a stickler for traditionalism when it comes to Shakespeare. But sometimes there is no replacement for the sublimity of the original words.