Twelfth Night

Twilight is a magical hour in the gardens, especially on a balmy March evening sipping my chardonnay and enjoying the magnificent Twelfth Night, the new production by Melbourne Shakespeare Company performed in the sumptuous Victoria Gardens.

A great cast and excellent production team have come together to refresh their audience with a modern interpretation of this peculiar and quite bizarre comedy romp by Shakespeare. Viola (Lelda Kapsis) and Sebastian (Saxon Gray), twin siblings travelling from Melbourne, are separated when shipwrecked on the kingdom of Illyria. Viola, disguised as a male, becomes Cesario to work for nobleman Orsino (Iopu Auva’a). Orsino loves Olivia (Jacqueline Whiting) and Viola loves Orsino.

A romantic comedy caper set with mind traps, mistaken identity, disguises and hilarious comical madness. Malvolio (Johnathan Peck) is stupendous, nuanced and hilariously dumbfounding  - when he is overwhelmed by the forged love letter supposedly from Olivia (actually he’s been hoodwinked by the rowdy members of her household) – his ‘yellow stocking – cross gartered’ scenario is spectacularly farcical and  brilliantly animated.

Feste (Nicola Bowman) the jester-like prankster is colorful and magical in her Tsarist - Russian inspired costume, as are the rest of the cast. Rowdy, vibrant and vivid richness, accompanied by songs like a wandering troupe, are stirring with passion and energy. Modern pop songs thrown into the mix are catchy and zesty. The finale, set to Shania Twain’s “I Feel Like A Woman”, is tongue–in–cheek and bubbly as the entire cast sing along.

I applaud Jennifer Sarah Dean’s direction for a sparkling and somewhat discerning and insightful production. The wooden beams decorated in flowing colored fabric and trees are backdrops for noble thrones. Comic folly and action is played off in the distance whilst the drama continues at the front of this makeshift garden stage.

Unfortunately for us it will only have a short run.  Hopefully it will return very soon for a much longer season.

Full praise for this impeccable production!

Flora Georgiou

Images: Burke Photography.