This week sees the performance of the Worcester college garden play, a production of one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, Twelfth Night. This comic tale of cross-dressing, mistaken identity and disguise is a popular choice for student productions, so it fell to director Katie Reisz to make her production stand out, and I think she succeeded.
For the uninitiated, the play tells the tale of the tale of the ship-wrecked twins Sebastian and Viola, who find themselves in the foreign land of Illyria. Thinking her brother dead, Viola dons her brother’s clothes and adopts the identity of a young man named Cesario. She then forms a friendship with the Duke Orsino working as his servant and is sent as a messenger to the household of the beautiful Olivia. What follows is an increasingly farcical comedy of errors, as Olivia falls in love with Cesario (to Viola’s dismay).
Meanwhile Olivia’s drunken uncle Sir Toby Belch contrives to trick the bad-tempered steward Malvolio into making a fool of himself. Things will complicated further by the return of Sebastian. This is Shakespearian comedy at its best; the play focuses on disguise and performance, and is astutely aware of its own theatricality and Reisz’s production perfectly communicates the easy wit and charm of the script.
This was an ensemble piece of theatre, and the acting was excellent all round. The comic scenes with the drunken Sir Toby Belch (Sam Kennedy)and his accomplices stood out, with the use of a certain leafy disguise adding to a particularly farcical scene. Likewise, Adam Bouyamourn’s Feste delivered some of the shows most memorable lines, and demonstrated his vocal talents (“Vox!”) with his brilliant performance of the fool’s songs.
Heading up the cast was Viola (alias Cesario) Rosie Frascona, who amply demonstrated that she possesses the great range required by the gender-swapping role. She was witty and eloquent when bantering with Feste, yet subtly affectionate in some of her scenes with Orsino. The character provides the central thread to the play’s eclectic action, and her subtle performance carries the part well.
The setting of the play in Worcester’s gardens was suitably impressive, creating a relaxed atmosphere, enhanced by the use of comfortable blankets as seating. The staging was set all around the seating, which worked well, and was well utilised. However, the location meant that college life continued around the play, and the occasional slightly bemused passerby was somewhat distracting at times. The play also saw the guest appearance of some of Worcester’s resident ducks, who wandered around the area throughout the performance. One duck in particular exhibited a good sense of comic timing by quacking on cue as Olivia called for her husband!
This is a highly enjoyable production of a brilliant play; if you find yourself at a loose end this week, and the weather is good, put on something warm and make your way to Worcester.
four stars out of five
Twelfth Night (or What you Will) is on at Worcester College until Saturday.
