TWELFTH NIGHT till 6 October
TWELFTH NIGHT: William Shakespeare.
RSC: The Courtyard, Stratford Upon Avon.
Runs: 3h 5m, one interval, till Saturday 6th October.
Tkts: 0870 609 1110, www.rsc.org.uk.
Review: Rod Dungate, 5 September 2007.
A shifting, haunting dream of a production.
The great strength of Neil Bartlett’s outstanding production is that every single second is firmly and beautifully placed within its context. I’m tempted to say he creates for this context an Edwardian setting; however, I think this production’s world is much more the landscape of a very 21st century dream which centres around Edwardian England. So manners are emphasised or extended (like the maids’ walks); places are fluid, shifting with a turn of a mirror from one place to another; we’re not quite certain who people are, and, crucially, not certain what gender they’re meant to be.
Gender role playing is central within the play; Bartlett homes in on this with confidence, bravado and huge, huge intelligence. He frequently comes at it from surprising directions.
Bartlett takes the decision to cast Viola with a male actor – we look back to Shakespeare’s original creation and forward to our own, increasingly shifting, views of maleness. Cesario is much more part of the play than Viola. The ‘love’ scene between Orsino and Viola/Cesario in the centre of the play is incredibly moving and incandescent with unspoken sexual tension – Orsino in dressing gown, Cesario in striped pyjamas – he looks so vulnerable. Chris New’s Viola/Cesario is fabulous – naïve, lost, but also strong, honest.
Bartlett takes the bold decision to cast Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Fabian with women. It’s a shock at first, takes some getting used to. But in this world, the clothes make the person (indeed characters often check in a mirror – we wonder if it’s to see what they look like or to see who they are.) Marjorie Yates and Annabel Leventon (Toby B and Andrew A) work hand in glove in remarkable performances. They inhabit their roles with ease in performances that make us think, and think, then think again about what we see. Characters that are, at one and the same time, real and unreal. Joanne Howarth produces a vigorous Fabian far more interesting than most I’ve seen.
James Clyde’s bitterly cynical Feste chimes with our times. Gone is the hackneyed Fool, present is the outsider, the comedian-commentator. John Lithgow plays Malvolio; a very human performance this. Yes, he’s arrogant, self-centred, has ideas above his station – but we’ve no doubt that he doesn’t deserve the level of punishment meted out to him.
Malvolio’s punishment is part of the darkness of the play that Bartlett orchestrates, and incorporates Feste’s often sneering cynicism or Sir Toby’s obvious using of Sir Andrew.
A thrilling, complex and revelatory production indeed.
Orsino: Jason Merrells.
Curio: Matt Blair.
Valentine: Tobias Beer.
House Guests: Tom Davey, Daniel Francis, Barnaby Power.
Feste: James Clyde.
Footmen: Tim Chipping, Stewart W Fraser.
Viola: Chris New.
A Captain: Tim Chipping.
Sailors: Tom Davey, Daniel Francis, Barnaby Power
Olivia: Justine Mitchell.
Maria: Siobhan Redmond.
Malvolio: John Lithgow.
Sir Toby Belch: Marjorie Yates.
Sir Andrew Aguecheek: Annabel Leventon.
Fabian: Joanne Howarth.
A Chaplain: Stewart W Fraser.
Parlour Maids: Stewart W Fraser, Joanne Howarth, Rachael Spence.
Sebastian: Iain McKee.
Antonio: Simon Merrells.
Policemen: Tom Davey, Daniel Francis, Barnaby Power.
Directed by: Neil Bartlett.
Designed by: Kandis Cook.
Lighting Designed by: Chris Davey.
Music Composed by: Simon Deacon.
Movement by: Leah Hausman.
Fights by: Terry King.
Assistant Director: Paul Higgins.
Company Voice Work: Tess Dignan.
Sound Designed by: Jeremy Dunn.
Casting by: Sam Jones.
2007-09-06 16:17:34