4 STARS, March 18-25. Equally suitable for kids and adults alike, Shakespeare Up Close's production of Twelfth Night is a streamlined, fast-paced romp through one of The Bard's most popular romantic comedies, says Fiona Adams
I love a bit of Shakespeare. Yes, you know all the plotlines, but there are so many ways to tell them and it’s a real joy to come across a treatment you weren’t expecting. I also love the way you spend the first five minutes thinking you’re watching something in a foreign language, only to find that over time you understand everything and turn to your partner to announce: “forsooth, methinks this is a wondrous play!” Only me?
Tweflth Night, running at the Orange Tree in Richmond until March 25, is a Shakespeare Up Close production, primarily aimed at secondary school children studying the bard. It is designed to be accessible and running at a fast-paced non-stop 90 minutes, there’s no chance (or indeed reason) for anyone to get bored. And at the Orange Tree, with the audience so close to the action, any yawns would be spotted immediately.
This comedy is all about mistaken identity, misdirected and unrequited affection. Siblings Viola and Sebastian are shipwrecked upon the shores of Illyria, yet are saved by different rescuers and neither knows the other is alive. Viola (Bebe Sanders) disguises herself as a page for protection and seeks employment with the Duke Orsino (Nick Blakely). She falls in love with her boss, yet he is infatuated with the lady Olivia, who holds no truck with him. When Viola, disguised as Cesario goes to plead his case, she finds herself the subject of the lady’s affections.
Shazia Nicholls is absolutely marvelous as Olivia. Capricious and feisty she is completely undone by Cesario and is turned into a giggling, flirtatious girl seeking any means possible to detain him. In an effort to prolong their conversation she asks: “What is your parentage?”. Her self-derision after asking such a question is along the lines of Jennifer Grey’s in Dirty Dancing when she tells Patrick Swayze that she carried a watermelon. Priceless.
While Olivia plots to woo Cesario and Orsino plots to woo Olivia, Viola (who uses her facial expressions to powerful effect) drops heavy hints about where her own affections lie. To complicate matters we are entertained by Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s niece, who has convinced his friend Sir Andrew Agucheek that he has a chance with Olivia. Sir Toby, played by Brendan Murphy, is all pent-up energy and mischief and for anyone older than 16, clearly channeling a hefty slice of Basil Fawlty. Together with Olivia’s maid Maria (Sophie Crawford, who also ably plays Feste the fool and Valentine) and Sir Andrew, they plot to convince Olivia’s steward Malvolio that she is really in love with him.
Yes, there’s a lot going on and it obviously helps if you know the play, but the action is mesmerising with lots of farce and musical interludes. There’s even a spot of audience participation – a first for me in a Shakespeare play – where the actors encourage the singing of “I can sing both high and low…” along with some clapping to the beat. The adults joined in enthusiastically; quite a few of the teenagers shifted uncomfortably in their seats, but it is the engagement here that is, well, so engaging.
You can’t help but become immersed in what’s going on and there wasn’t a straight face in the house when Malvolio donned his yolk yellow tights and garters, which he thinks Olivia admires, and parades around the stage. Well done to Nick Blakely there; he plays two major characters with conviction and embraces them both wholeheartedly.
Shakespeare Up Close delivers what it promises – the bard in a fast-paced production with modern settings – but here it does so much more than merely deliver the play of Twelfth Night. With very few props and very little staging, simply the skills of the direction and the actors, it brings to life a complicated love story with wit and energy and holds the rapt attention of adults and school students alike for the entire 90 minutes. I loved it. Forsooth, methinks it was a wondrous play.
- Twelfth Night is showing at the Orange Tree Theatre until March 25, for tickets visit orangetreetheatre.co.uk
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