Ents: Arts

Review: Twelfth Night

From the very beginning of this play, it was clear that we were about to witness Twelfth Night in a new, interpretive and imaginative production.

A thoroughly challenging play, Twelfth Night includes love, disguise, and deception. The cast and direction succeeded in creating a lively, funny, and original production.

The auditorium in the Drama Studio was almost entirely full, with queues building up before the doors opened. Everyone had come with high expectations, and these were certainly met.

The set was an open blank space with some raised levels upstage, and the costumes of the main characters (Orsino, Olivia, Viola and Sebastian) were simple and mostly black. This gave the production a very open, timeless feel, unlike traditional Shakespeare, and the actors appeared unrestrained by costume or space.

Costume was also used very well in the case of some of the more minor, comic characters. This production ensured that these characters were developed, and each actor brought so much more depth and variety to the familiar play.

Sir Andrew's costume was clearly intended to make the character look as ridiculous as possible, a characterisation pulled off with hilarious style. The limited set, lighting, and sound changing was a clear directorial choice to bring the acting to the front, making the play raw, stripped of its clutter.

The actors certainly met this challenge. Mark Chapman, Rob O'Connor and Melissa Wilkins were a phenomenal comic trio as Sir Andrew, Sir Toby, and Maria respectively. Their sequences were full of tremendous energy, skilfully transforming their own voices and physicality to become a melodramatic coward, a drunken scoundrel, and a mischievous maid.

Nathan Jeffers' performance of Malvolio was equally prominent and impressive; he clearly has a natural flair for acting. Initially a very comic character - especially when he appeared in his yellow stockings - Jeffers expertly changed the tone of his character for the scene between him and Feste, the fool, after he was locked away.

Feste's sudden change of voice to intimidate Malvolio and the narrow square of light to represent Malvolio's isolation was striking. It was an interesting directorial move to perform this scene as tragic and moving; the audience suddenly realised that the tormenting of Malvolio was beyond a joke.

This moment was rich in the ‘darker, moodier tone' that the director, Amy Gunn, intended. However, I found that this scene did not substantially influence the tone of the overall performance, as it was the refreshing comedy and variety that carried the entire piece.

The four major characters were all played by clearly skilled actors, each of them adding individuality to their parts, but Rachel Nott's confident and powerful Olivia was especially remarkable. She made her protestations of love to Viola (as Cesario) exaggerated and overly romantic, meaning lines and scenes that could easily have been dull were actually extremely funny.

It was certainly a massive achievement to have such a large audience completely absorbed in a Shakespeare production, which are so often heavy-going and tedious performances. The actors made it funny for the modern audience, profound and moving; we can now look at Twelfth Night in an entirely new light.

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