Twelfth Night

Synopsis

Or What You Will. Shakespeare comedy of mistaken identity, practical jokes and unrequited love. Rescued from a shipwreck the twins Viola and Sebastian arrive independently in Illyria, both thinking the other is drowned. Viola disguises herself as a boy and finds employment with the Duke who is in love with Olivia. Malvolio is the subject of a cruel joke played on him by Sir Toby Belch (yellow stockings cross-gartered) leading him to believe that Olivia loves him. But Olivia has fallen in love with the disguised Viola, while she is in love with the Duke (following it so far?!).

Our Review:

16 June 2008

Twelfth Night should be one of the Shakespeare comedies to work best in the open air – Feste is a fool of the outdoors and inclement weather, the gulling of Malvolio is in the garden, the duel and the great denouement scene involve public discovery and declamation – yet we are denied al fresco lift-off in Edward Dick’s revival, following new artistic director Timothy Sheader’s opening salvo with Romeo and Juliet earlier last week.

There is something dogged in the vague 1920s setting on Robert Innes Hopkins’s permanent set for the season, with English bobbies in Illyria, Janie Dee’s Olivia fluttering around in lacy frocks (once she’s broken out of black mourning) and Clive Rowe as Feste delivering Dominic Muldowney’s setting of the songs with operatic extravagance.

In addition, that fine actor [Richard O’Callaghan] doesn’t quite have the lungs or the fire power for an outdoors Malvolio, and sitting over half...

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Latest User Review

jan d - 13 July 2008:

We were aware we were going to be disappointed in the first minute when Viola entered and we realised that the actress playing her was inadequate. She did not speak Shakespeare well and ruined the wonderful 'patience on a monument' speech. Apart from Clive Rowe's Feste, which we found irritating, we enjoyed the comedy. Tim Woodward (who we had previously admired as Capulet) and Clive Hayward were excellent. An understudy, who name, I regret, I did not take, was playing Maria and she did it very well. Richard O'Callaghan did his best as Malvolio but was not entirely convincing. Jamie Dee was a lovely and elegant Olivia. However it was hard to believe that she could possibly fall for Natalie Dewe's Viola/Cesario or Neet Mohan's vapid Sebastian. Oscar Pearce played Orsino as a peevish cry baby. We did not particularly dislike the evening but came away confused and irritated at the widely varying differences in acting ability. ...

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