MARK Smith could not have directed two more contrasting productions for York Shakespeare Project.

First he staged Shakespeare's political thriller Julius Caesar at 41 Monkgate in June 2009; now his "fast, fun and folky" modern-dress interpretation of the rustic comedy Twelfth Night is running in the York Theatre Royal Studio until Saturday.

"Julius Caesar was contrasting in many ways," says Mark. "We had as big a cast as possible, numbering in the mid-20s, and I offered everyone who auditioned a role, whereas I felt we had to keep Twelfth Night down to small numbers in the Studio, so there are only 12 in the company.

"Julius Caesar had an epic scale and battle fields; a lot of Twelfth Night is domestic or in a closed garden. For Julius Caesar, I wanted to keep in as much of the script as possible, with all the political machinations going on, when I was into West Wing [the American television series] at the time, but Twelfth Night is more like a three-minute pop song."

One further contrast had an impact of rehearsals and subsequent performances. "Julius Caesar had to be a lot more mapped out and pre-meditated," says Mark. "Rehearsing Twelfth Nigh was all about 'Let's play with it'."

Tickets for the 7.45pm evening performances and Saturday's 2pm matinee of Twelfth Night are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk