Twelfth Night: William ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare Theatre, RSC, Stratford Upon AvonRuns: 2h 55m; one interval, till 18 January 2025,4☆☆☆☆. Review: Roderick Dungate.
Photo Credit: Helen Murray.
Twelfth Night: William Shakespeare
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, RSC, Stratford Upon Avon
Runs: 2h 55m; one interval, till 18 January 2025,
4☆☆☆☆. Review: Roderick Dungate.
AD Performance 04 January 2025
“Unruly and Sensitive.”
Prasanna Puwanarajah has, in this production, skilfully pulled off a clever trick. It has an unruly, improvisatory feel about it entirely in keeping with the time of misrule which are the twelve days of Christmas. Yet is also relaxed; events are given time to breathe; emotional moments emerge naturally from the misrule and, just as easefully, merge back into it. There is a powerful intimacy between the Illyria world and the Stratford Upon Avon one.
The production is packed with strong performances in roles of all different sizes. There are two towering ones, however.
Samuel West’s Malvolio is superb. His self love (Olivia’s description) is evident in everything West does. And nothing could encapsulate this creation than the accent West creates; it tells us Malvolio’s class background, aims, and inability to see himself. He handles his final scene with touching stillness and his understated parting shot, ‘I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you’, instantly reduces the temperature in the theatre by several degrees.
The second great performance is Michal Grady-Hall’s Feste. He steps between the Illyria and Stratford worlds with great aplomb and mighty control of his comedic powers. The more outrageous his comedy the more in place it feels – who else could get away with yellow Y-fronts! His singing is beautiful and his bitter attack on Malvolio as his (Fester’s) powers are on the wane is bitter and shocking.
Freema Agyeman and Gwyneth Keyworth (Olivia and Viola) present us with carefully and sensitively created characters, but both are let down, somewhat, with poor vocal production.
A special mention should be made of Rhys Rusbatch as Sebastian. Sebastian can be a bit of a thankless task, however, Rusbatch‘s ability to support his creation with fully embodied emotion ensures he, sensitively, pulls the play towards him at the right moments giving scenes their full value.
Neat textual rearrangements at the play’s opening ensure we know exactly where we are from the start. There is great infectious joy in this Twelfth Night, it frequently teeters on the edge of going too far, but it never does. Puwanarajah clearly has an inventive and safe pair of hands.
Cast
Viola – Gwyneth Keyworth
A Sea-Captain – Cat McKeevar
Olivia – Freema Agyeman
Orsino – Bally Gill
Curio – Thom Petty
Valentine – David Whitworth
Maria – Danielle Henry
Sir Toby Belch – Joplin Sibtain
Sir Andrew Aguecheek – Demetri Goritsas
Feste – Michael Grady-Hall
Malvolio – Samuel West
Fabian – Daniel Millar
Sebastian – Rhys Rusbatch
Antonio – Norman Bowman
A Priest – Emily Benjamin
Kate – Charlotte O’Leary
First Officer/Attendant– Michael Lyle
Second Officer/Attendant – Goerge Fletcher
Attendants – Reece Millar/Tom Sowinski
Creatives
Director - Prasanna Puwanarajah
Sets & Costumes – James Cotterill
Lighting – Zoe Spurr
Composer – Matt Maltese
Sound – George Dennis
Audio Describers – Julia Grundy/Ellie Packer