Twelfth Night - Bristol
TWELFTH NIGHT William Shakespeare
Bristol Old Vic
Running Time: 2 hours 40 minutes One interval
Review by Stewart McGill 8/11/2004
Dark and melancholic - is this the best regional Shakespeare this year?
The bad news for Bristol is that after a rather short period of time joint Artistic Director, David Farr is to move to Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith to succeed Neil Bartlett. Wonderful for the Lyric and in the crystal ball do I see a Farr future as Artistic Director of the RSC or even National Theatre ? A strong possibility and whilst wishing him well let's not forget that his Bristol partner at the top Simon Reade is also responsible for the renaissance of the company and will, no doubt, continue to lead it forward.
For now Farr's darkish and melancholic Twelfth Night is a strong contender for the best regional Shakespeare production this year. It does seem appropriate now to shift this play from the world of the comedies towards the tragedies and later plays. Here Farr and regular design collaborator Angela Davies place Illyria in a crumbling country house maybe 1920's where the party is well and truly over. Not a new idea and many of the ideas here are reworking of themes beautifully explored by John Barton and Edward Hall but none the less giving this production an exceptional quality.
Viola (Nikki Amuka Bird) erupts through water in Illyria to open the play What country friends is this? and indeed much is made of the watery motif throughout even to the point when love crazed Olivia (Rakie Ayola) takes a full fall splashing the front row as the curtain descends for the interval!
With a dark line some of the richer comic sequences seem less amusing than usual. I smiled at the Belch/Aguecheek/Feste goings on but no more and whilst engaging, Mark Lockyer's ferocious Malvolio was torn between pity and a sense of well he deserved it!. These are interpretive questions however and there is no doubt that the company are playing a very strong team for this production as audiences now expect at this address.
With a melancholic overview of the play I thought it could go further and take the complexities of relationships, gender and grieving rather than maybe opt for an ending that did get a laugh of Malvolio's I'll be revenged on the pack of you. The long shadows were there in David Farr's production and I wanted more of this.
Bristol, as the programme states, has become a centre for diverse explorations of Shakespeare with regular slots at Bristol Old Vic and the chamber work o Andrew Hilton's excellent Shakespeare at The Tobacco Factory ensemble. This Twelfth Night is memorable and one of the best for a few years and, let's face it, no one ever gets it completely right (except Barton and Dench in 1969) as there are so many possible roads to travel. Next year Michael Boyd tackles it as part of the RSC's comedies season at Stratford the Bristol one is worthy of any national theatre and is a gem in an already strong autumn season. Perhaps Lyric and Bristol Old Vic will consider co-producing both theatres are similar in design and share a King Street address discuss!
Cast: Orsino: Charles Edwards, Curio/Officer: Harry Smith, Valentine/Antonio: David Beames, Viola: Nikki Amuka Bird, Captain/Fabian: Peter Aubrey, Sir Toby Belch: Jimmy Yuill, Maria: Lindy Whiteford, Sir Andrew Aguecheek: David Delve, Feste: Ian Lindsay, Olivia: Rakie Ayola, Malvolio: Mark Lockyer, Sebastian: Joseph Kennedy, Orsino's Servant/Olivia's Servant/Officer: Oliver Hembrough.
Creative Team: Director: David Farr, Designer: Angela Davies, Composer: Keith Clouston, Lighting Designer: Neil Austin, Sound Designer: Jason Barnes.
2004-11-15 15:44:12