5 STARS, showing until July 22. This Twelfth Night is exuberant, witty and bursting with energy, says Alice Cairns
At the beginning of Twelfth Night, Viola is washed up on the shores of a new world. ‘What country, friends is this?’ she asks. And in answer, The Watermill Theatre gives us an Illyria of smoky jazz clubs and androgynous fashion, a twilight world rosily lit by strings of fairy lights.
Malvolio works particularly well in the 1920s setting. His puritanical objection to ‘cakes and ale’ takes on a new relevance in the era of Prohibition, and he stalks vengefully through a court in which illicit bars are concealed behind revolving mirrors. (These mirrors also playfully remind us of one of the play’s guiding themes – doubling and twinning.)
Most importantly, however, the bold new setting allows an almost nauseatingly multitalented cast to put music at the heart of their Twelfth Night. After all, this is a play that begins and ends with song. Throughout the evening, we’re treated to an immensely varied range of live music – everything from sombre, haunting funeral dirges to hilariously deployed contemporary tunes. In a particularly memorable and unexpected climax to the first Act, Malvolio gives a stirring rendition of Lorde’s Royals. Feste’s songs are also reimagined as mellow, soulful jazz numbers, accompanied by a blues band.
In fact, music is so important to this production that instruments are regularly used as props. At Olivia’s court, a funeral procession carries an immense double bass case instead of a coffin. A double bass also functions as a box tree in the hilarious and intricately choreographed scene of forged letters and subterfuge.
The use of live music creates a carnival atmosphere, and does much to break down the boundary between actors and audience. At the very beginning of the play, the cast takes partners from the audience for a spin on the onstage dance floor. A melancholy, capricious Orsino passes around a tambourine. Lines are often addressed directly to audience members, characters enter and exit through the audience, and at one point, a terrified Andrew Aguecheek cowers on the lap of a man in the front row.
This is a bold, primary colour production, which means that shades of grey are sometimes left unexplored. Twelfth Night is a play shot through with melancholy. The ‘happy ending’ creates a charmed circle from which outliers – like Malvolio, Antonio, and Sir Andrew – are excluded, lonely characters who have no doubles in a play that focuses on pairs.
But this production takes the sting out of the ending. The heart-breaking lines in which Sir Toby rejects Sir Andrew are cut, and both characters are seen dancing jauntily at the end of the play. Throughout Twelfth Night, Malvolio is excluded because of his hatred of music and revelry – but in this production, he emerges playing the trombone in a final, triumphant jamming session. Even the tragic, puritanical outsider is ultimately brought into the fold by the transformative power of music. Indeed, so fun, life affirming and richly musical is this production that we’re happy to lose track of the play’s finer threads of melancholy.
The cast are immensely talented and put in strong, flexible performances as both actors and musicians. Special mention must go to Peter Dukes, who traced Malvolio’s deterioration from profound arrogance and ambition to humiliation and vengeful rage. At the end of the play he retained a bruised dignity – quite a feat considering how recently he had pranced around the stage in yellow stockings, crossed suspenders and a feather boa to uproarious laughter from the audience. Victoria Blunt gave a sweet and feisty Maria, and Mike Slader was a hilarious and profoundly lovable Andrew Aguecheek.
I will admit to being a little puzzled by the decision to cast Sir Toby Belch and Antonio as girls, but this is a minor point. This Illyria is a festive, fluid world where music and love are closely interwoven. You’re almost guaranteed to wish the cast would ‘play on’ long after the curtains close.
Check out Theatre/Arts Section for more great local thespian news, reviews and interviews
You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates on our latest articles
Sign up to our Weekly Newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and stories
Looking to advertise your business in Surrey or SW London? Check out our 11 different lifestyle magazines with a combined monthly distribution of over 210,000
