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the passion8words
The passion8words is presented by Jeff Thomson.
on air - fun 8 word theatre reviews.
online - full reviews written by Jeff.
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TWELFTH NIGHT
ARCHIVE REVIEW
I saw this production several evenings ago and I am surprised it haunts me still. My first reaction was to assess it as competent but not definitive – however, snapshot moments keep returning to prompt a re-evaluation
Director Philip Franks sets the play around 1919/20 – a time of national mourning, loss and adjustment. Suddenly the ambiguities within a script that recognises pain, accepts late night carousing, supports both deception and taunting, seem naturally contained - as does the attraction for same sex relationships. The old social order is held together by scaffolding that might (or might not) be dismantled. To my mind this theme is imaginatively carried through with the set too which is a mesh of frames that comprise a lavish conservatory reflecting both the sea and a sea of emotion.
The characterisations, quite often one dimensional in this play, are given a new lease of life and ‘suddenly’ backgrounds that help move our understanding of the fragmentary nature of the plotting. Malvolio (Patrick Stewart) is given a dour Scots accent and kilted cross gartering to contrast with the hedonistic capering of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. Orsino is suitably suave and quietly predatory while Feste, the clown, is re-imagined as a ‘Punch & Judy’ man.
That all is resolved is a given - but this play finishes on a note that combines both sadness and joy; Malvolio has been most grievously abused, while the lovers settle for heterosexual love so recently confused by cross-dressing. Hey Ho! Feste’s song at the end effectively captures a mood that is downbeat but hopeful; it avoids any hint to ‘Nonny Nonny No’s’ with a echoing resonance that seems to be remaining with me.
Perhaps it will attract a definitive label at one point.
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