A few weeks ago I went to seen an open air production of Twelfth Night. I’d been to see Much Ado About Nothing a couple of years previously since I was studying the play for GCSE, and the setting was gorgeous. It’s part of an old historical house’s annual “Shakespeare in the Park” thing they have, and there’s really something special about sitting out in the sun with lots of other people in deckchairs and on rugs, watching a Shakespeare play. I’m a huge Shakespeare fangirl, so when I found out that I would be free on the day Twelfth Night was on, I was very excited.
As a background if you’re not familiar with the play, it is a story about two (almost) identical twins, who are shipwrecked. The girl, Viola, without any money or means to support herself, dresses up as a boy (Cesario), and goes to work for Duke Orsino. She falls in love with him, but she has to court Olivia for her master, who, thinking she is a boy, falls in love with her herself. It is essentially a love triangle which actually works as a triangle! It all gets very complicated, along with the other characters, Sir Toby, Olivia’s constantly drunk relative, his friend Sir Andrew who Sir Toby is trying to set Olivia up with, Maria, Olivia’s maid, Malvolio, her condescending steward who the rest play tricks on, and Feste, the “fool” who is the only person who really seems to know what is going on.
We arrived a little late and many of the good spots had already been claimed, nevertheless we managed to get a great place in the shade and fairly near the front. As the play started, I realised that the production company was going all authentic, with an all-male cast and full Elizabethan dress. They started out traditionally with a song too, which I enjoyed far more than the attempts at music I had heard in Much Ado – they were all fantastic singers. At first, however, I was a little dubious about the decision to have males playing the female parts. The original joke which is so often lost in modern adaptations – a boy dressing up as a girl dressing up as a boy – was kept, but I was unsure about the acting of the person who played Viola/Cesario, since he seemed to over-act the high voice and girly walk – perhaps deliberately. I felt that the person playing Olivia was better though, and each of them added to the comedy factor very well. By the end of the first half I had forgotten the “ever so slight gayness” of the production, as my dad put it, and was only reminded of it when everyone started kissing at the end.
I was absolutely thrilled with the performances of Sir Toby and Feste, my two favourite characters, as well as Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Sir Toby was brilliantly drunk the whole time, Sir Andrew was amazingly stupid, and enhanced his performance with some great caterwauling and prancing about. My hat goes off to Feste though, as it is the most difficult and the most important part in the whole play, in my opinion, and the actor pulled it off fantastically. The best scene which he absolutely stole, was the one in which he comes to Malvolio in the prison, pretending to be the curate. Malvolio was blindfolded and below the stage, his head popping out of the trap door. The actor put on the best old man’s high Italian-accented voice, and along with Malvolio, the part which is almost as difficult as Feste’s, made the whole scene funny and sad at the same time – my heart really went out to Malvolio. In the latter half of the scene, when Feste speaks to Malvolio as himself, and then proceeds to have a conversation with him as both himself and the curate, there was some wonderful acting, with the actor jumping from side to side of the trap-door as each character spoke.
Overall, while it may not be the most philosophical of Shakespeare’s plays, it is certainly one of my favourites, and I highly recommend seeing it, or watching the film adaptation, again which I adore and I think Helena Bonham Carter absolutely nails. You can see the trailer here.
Also, if you get the opportunity to watch a play outdoors, I really recommend you do so. It is such a great experience, totally different to seeing something in the theatre, and really enjoyable.
So here’s your question: what is your favourite play, and what is the best production of a play you have ever seen?
Tags: drama, Music, play, Review, shakespeare, twelfth night