TWELFTH NIGHT THE MUSICAL

Welcome to the roaring 20’s, the age of art and excess!

A review by Ellie Farrow

Set on a cruise ship in the jazz age, this production of Twelfth Night, performed at the Rose Playhouse, gives us a new understanding of the play – whilst engaging us with its comedic plot and live music.

The show, I feel, took a while to gain momentum. It started a little slow and I feel that the scene in which the storm occurs (separating Viola and Sebastian at the beginning) was done poorly. It used a voice over recording to declare that the SS Elysium had sunk. I feel that for a show that made as many bold choices as this one did, they could’ve done something more adventurous for this important opening moment. Other than this, I have few complaints of the show and may compliments to boot.

I thought the show had incredibly smart spacing, adapting well to the tiny Rose Playhouse. Furthermore, the scene was well set with the boat railings at the back of the stage. This was a bold new take on Twelfth Night, setting it on a 1920’s cruise liner, and it worked rather well. Theatregoers familiar with Twelfth Night may see similarities between the 1920’s and the play.

Director Adam Nichols said he chose to locate this production in the 1920’s as he believed the setting reflects 3 key themes within the play: Hedonism, music and gender and sexuality. Their 1920’s setting allows them to depict the hedonistic lifestyle of the main characters, supported by the live jazz music which reflects this lifestyle as well as the wild abandonment of many of the characters. The 1920’s setting also allowed OVO to play with the fluidity of gender and sexuality, which is a fundamental theme in Twelfth Night. Representing social changes of this period, Nichol’s choose to cast cross sex roles for Sir Toby Belch and Malvolio.

Malvolio, or Malvolia, was by far my favourite character. Faith Turner delivered Shakespeare lines with such confidence that it sounded like her own words. I feel like Turner nailed this role, even with the extra challenge of cross sex casting. Furthermore, I really liked how the final song drew attention to the fact that Malvolia has been mistreated. Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ called out out the other characters, allowing Malvolia to be perceived as more than just a joke.

On the other hand, I feel that Malvolia’s letter scene, which Turner delivered brilliantly, was mildly disrupted by the busy movement. Malvolia reads the love letter she’s believes is from her lady, whilst the characters of Feste, Lady Toby Belch, Sir Andrew, Fabian and Maria hide and eavesdrops – making Malvolia the butt of their joke. It is a powerful monologue, and Malvolia’s changing point (critical in Shakespeare), however I feel the movement of the deck chairs took away from this. The simpler start to the scene, with the eavesdroppers sat on the chairs, using newspapers to quickly converse and hide behind, worked much better.

Another character who stood out to me was Feste, played by Hannah Francis-Baker. A talented performer, who sung the majority of the songs and also played both trumpet and saxophone, Baker brought Feste to life. My one alteration would be that she could’ve been more outlandish. Lady Toby Belch was really bold in mannerism and costume, whilst Festewasn’t. In the text, Feste is mad, so the production needs to show this a little more.

The live music was extraordinary, adding that extra layer. Director Adam Nichols said that, the adapted Postmodern Jukebox style arrangements of contemporary songs reflected Shakespeare’s own use of popular music of the Elizabethan period – I really enjoyed it. The one thing I would say is that they need to make it clearer on some of the songs as to why they are singing.

Overall I thought it was an exceptional re-telling of one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. I have seen this performed many time and in many styles and this was fresh, brand new and full of fun. I would definitely recommend seeing it – you’ll be tapping your foot the whole way through.