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Demetri Goritsas as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Joplin Sibtain as Sir Toby Belch and Daniel Millar as Fabien hiding among the organ pipes. Pictures: Helen Murray. Twelfth Night (or What You Will) The Royal Shakespeare Company Stratford-upon-Avon ***** If ever you wanted a definition of a romp this is it, a glorious, laugh out loud comedy, the nearest Shakespeare gets to panto, full of wit, asides and comic gems breaking through the fourth wall at will. The story is simple: after a shipwreck off the coast of Illyria, Viola and her twin brother Sebastian, survive but each fears the other has drowned, so waveswept Viola decides to dress as a man and get a job as page to Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. We said simple, we never said the story was logical . . . . Illyria, for those without a 17th century atlas to hand, is along the Adriatic coast of the Balkans, not that the location matters a great deal, if at all, except for an audience at the premiere, back in 1601, a shipwreck off Illyria was a much more romantic, exotic and mysterious backdrop than say . . . Clacton. Then we have a countess, Olivia, a recent widow who is also mourning the death of her brother and, donning widow’s weeds as a badge of honour, refusing to see any man for three years She is loved by Orsino, of more later, but, despite her vow of manlessness, she falls for Cesario not knowing it is Viola in disguise, and Cesario, or this time Viola, hidden behind the disguise, has fallen for Orsino, and just to add to the confusion Sebastian, who looks just like Cesario, sort of, turns up and . . . look, it gets a bit complicated.
Freema Agyeman as Olivia Alongside the love triangle triangles we have Olivia’s uncle, Sir Toby Belch, no doubt a relative of Falstaff, who has taken upon himself the noble quest of ensuring the survival of brewers, vintners and distillers, along with Sir Andrew Aguecheek, his wealthy benefactor, except with his somewhat limited intellect Sir Andrew will never realise it is his money rather than his manner that is much appreciated. Then, all joking aside we have the pompous, self-important Malvolio, Olivia’s puritanical, funless steward. Joplin Sibtain staggers and slurs his way through proceedings, Belch by name and by nature in a glorious performance as Sir Toby, never taking life too seriously, always up for a laugh, a drink and a late night, yet, as we are to discover, there is a sadness behind it all, the misery left when the smiles fade. Demetri Goritsas adds a hint of an American accent to his less than dashing Sir Andrew, blessed with more wealth than intellect and unwittingly funding Sir Toby’s lavish if limited lifestyle. He is easily convinced he will win the hand of the fair Olivia, which is what keeps him hanging around, in a whimsical performance of delightful dimness.
Michael Grady-Hall as Feste And then there is the fool Feste, Olivia’s jester in a quite wonderful performance by Michael Grady-Hall, better a witty fool than a foolish wit is his mantra. But alongside his superb portrayal of Shakespeare’s trademark fool he also gives us a stunning example of the rich tradition of the clown, the likes of Grimaldi, of Grock and more recently, Charlie Cairoli. His interval antics with the audience are a masterclass in the art of clowning and he involves the audience at every turn from his spectacular arrival from the flies to his melancholy solo to close. He would steal the show hands down were it not for his rival in that regard, Samuel West as Malvolio. West, seen most recently as Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small, turns the unbelievably pompous Malvolio from a figure of derision to one we cannot help but feel for. West gives Malvolio a puritanical air, a no nonsense stickler battling against rebellious, ungrateful, unhelpful servants and the excesses of the drunken, debauched and any other insult he could think of, Belch. Unpopular, even hated could be his middle names among the countess’s household all brought to a head when he angrily rebukes them as they party away, led of course by Sir Toby, disturbing the household in the early hours in the festive season. An attempted admonishment that draws the famous retort from Sir Toby: "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?"
Samuel West as Malvolio It is a confrontation which leads to the cruellest of jokes as Maria, Olivia’s waiting woman, a spirited, fun lover in the hands of Danielle Henry, Fabian, playfully played by Daniel Millar, a member of the household, and more importantly, Belch’s friend, Sir Toby, of course, and, not quite sure what is going on but throwing himself whole heartedly into it, whatever it is, Sir Andrew, all endeavour to not only make a fool of Malvolio, embarrass and humiliate him, but have him appear mad, a lunatic. West’s Malvolio, a dour, unsmiling man of unbending, self imposed virtue is made to believe Olivia secretly loves him and the transformation is wondrous. The lonely, solitary steward comes alive, for the first time one suspects, at the thought of romance, of being loved, of being wanted and, as requested, or so he believes, he appears before her, a ridiculous figure, smiling manically in yellow stockings and cross gartered, both of which Olivia hates. The result? Malvolio is declared mad and placed in a dark dungeon under the care of his tormentors who welcome the opportunity to torment him all the more. When, eventually, the truth is revealed his bitter despairing words followed by his sad exit, vowing revenge, are met with an almost embarrassed silence. He had suffered a cruel joke followed by extended cruelty all for . . . what? West squeezes every ounce of emotion and humanity out of Malvolio. We might not like the unlovable steward, but West makes sure we cannot fail to care about him - a tribute to his magical mastery of the actor’s art.
Bally Gill as Orsino and Gwyneth Keyworth
as Viola
Meanwhile, back in the romcom bit, Freema Agyeman is our sad, at least initially, Olivia, with her three years of mourning which doesn’t actually make it as far as the interval. She shows a feisty side, and a steely determination to snare Gwyneth Keyworth’s Viola, or in this case, Cesario, as her husband. Agyeman can be coquettish, she can be arrogant, she can be vulnerable but you have no doubt she is in charge of her domain. Keyworth’s Cesario is on a loser from her, or, more accurately at the time, his arrival at the Duke’s door. As a she, she is falling for the Duke as a he she is merely the go-between, expressing his/her master's love for Olivia, with no other part than messenger to play in their particular game of romantic chess. Keyworth manages to handle the difficulties the role presents with some skill, Bally Gill’s Orsino has a less than flattering opinion of women, not so much misogynistic, more a view that blokes are better at everything from thinking to loving. He is a sort of young, go-getting, whiz-kid exec, who expects to have whatever he wants, so Olivia is just a matter of time . . . Then to muddy the waters even more Sebastian, played by Rhys Rusbatch, turns up looking the spitting image of his sister, and the special offer of woo one get one free leads to all sorts of mistaken identities, confusion and mayhem. But what you will, it all ends happily, unless you are Malvolio of course, with a melancholy singing by Feste of When That I Was and a Little Tiny Boy. Grady-Hall has a lovely voice and Matt Maltese has done a brilliant job in making the songs of a 17th century Shakespeare comedy sound as if they were written for a 21st century musical. From early on the set is dominated by a triple manual pipe organ filling the rear of the stage, music being a large part of the play, the food of love in fact. The soaring organ music coming not as it seems from the huge organ on stage, but recorded on the organ at Holy Trinity Church down the road from the RSC where Shakespeare is buried and digitally designed to sound as if from the stage organ. The set and costumes from James Cotterill are stars in their own right aided and abetted by George Dennis’s sound design and Zoe Spurr’s dramatic and always interesting lighting. There are some wonderful touches, even from minor characters, and plenty of interaction with the audience with moments of real humour such as Orsino’s gift for example, no spoilers on that one. Director Prasanna Puwanarajah promises a new interpretation, which he manages with aplomb with wonderful inventiveness and imagination, yet always keeping Shakespeare’s glorious comedy at the heart of his production. This is Shakespeare at its very best, funny, witty, easy to follow, at times daft, at times sad, but always entertaining. To 18-01-25. Roger Clarke 18-12-14 |
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