A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Roundhouse, London

From beginning to end, this extraordinary production of Shakespeare's woodland romance is a glorious sensory assault. Leaving the theatre after the spectacle, which is spoken in seven different languages and incorporates song, dance and acrobatics, feels not unlike awakening from a pleasant dream.

The production began life in 2004 when Tim Supple was commissioned by the British Council to create a touring play using Indian and Sri Lankan artists. The director trawled the region, building up a 23-strong company of actors, musicians, dancers, martial artists, acrobats and street performers.

Their version of A Midsummer Night's Dream first toured Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in outdoor arenas before arriving at The Swan in Stratford for an all-too-brief 12-night run as part of the RSC Complete Works Festival in June. It now kicks off a much called for national and international tour with a six-week residency in London. And where better for this magical spectacle to make its home than in the newly refurbished, circus-like space of The Roundhouse.

Roughly half of the script is spoken in English. The rest is a head-spinning blend of Tamil, Malaysian, Sinhalese, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and even Sanskrit - to reflect the multi-lingual nation of India. While initially a little disorientating, once the expository opening scene is out of the way, the cast's switching between languages comes to seem almost natural.

Accompanied by evocative drums, flute, strings and, in the case of the players, a cacophony of rattling pots and pans, it becomes just another part of the heightened sensory experience. Indeed, it is quite thrilling to see the straitjacket of the Bard's sacred word thrown off in favour of something far more fluid, more visceral. Stripped of classical dialogue, Supple's production digs down to the dramatic heart of Shakespeare and discovers the very essence of his theatre.

While the odd linguistic nuance or wordplay is lost in this version, it is more than made up for in visual treats. Titania's fairies burst on to the stage through a paper backdrop, ripping holes in it to reveal a bamboo climbing-frame on which they swing, clamber and perch their way through the play.

Long, red ribbons hanging from the lighting rig become trees which the actors shin up, then hide or sleep, cocooned in material hollows above the stage. In another stunt, the four lovers meet in the woods, thoroughly confused and angered by Puck's mischievous and liberal use of the love potion. As they argue, Puck weaves a devilish web of elastic bands around them, leaving them trapped in a kind of giant, romantic cat's cradle. Working their matchmaking magic, Oberon and Puck don't just sprinkle an invisible love potion over the slumbering lovers' eyes, they smear their faces with the red juice of the flower. Like everything else in this production, it is visually arresting - a curious mixture of earthiness and the supernatural.

When Bottom is transformed into an ass by the fairies, he is given gigantic wicker ears and a plump, ripe squash which hangs between his legs, driving Titania wild with desire. As she writhes her limbs around the lucky fellow, waist-length hair rippling, he becomes a rutting beast, honking and mooing his way around the stage.

Elsewhere in this relentlessly sexy production, the four star-crossed lovers tussle and tumble on the red earth, ripping at each another's diaphanous, silky clothes.

As daylight comes and they return to their senses, the marriage scene - broken up by an amusing and unusually touching rendition of the play- within-a-play, Pyramus and Thisbe - which sees the dishevelled brides return to the stage in dresses of vivid gold, orange and fuchsia, is genuinely heart-lifting. The final wedding dance, performed in candlelight to a mesmerising chant is sudd- enly and unexpectedly moving. Spellbinding.

To 21 April (www.roundhouse.org.uk; 08703 891 846); then touring