Twelfth Night

Purists, theatre snobs and general wowsers won’t like Elston’s version of Shakespeare’s delicious comedy, but who cares? Once again Shakespeare in the Park offers us a marvellous open air treat, and it doesn’t matter whether you bring a picnic of smoked salmon and Champagne, or Vegemite sandwiches and Fanta….that’s how wide the general appeal is for this terrific production.

For those who don’t know the story, twins Viola and Sebastian are lost to each other in a shipwreck…neither realising the other survived. What follows is the usual mayhem of cross-dressing, mistaken identity and “All’s Well That Ends Well”…actually that’s another play.

The cast of this year’s offering is exceptional, and the atmosphere of the setting sun and the flimsy set evoke the Shakespeare tradition. He was, though we tend to forget it, a writer of Entertainment, geared to the broadest audience who mostly stood in a theatre without a roof!

Elston plays with the text, as he always does, and takes the characterisations to extremes. The result is more comedy (some subtle, some very broad), plus contemporary references. It all works a treat and this production has more outright belly laughs than in previous years. To see  Sir Andrew Aguecheek, wonderfully played by Anthony Rive, trapped in an aquarium with Nemo reduces the most stoic audience member (my husband) to tears of laughter. It is sheer comic genius in its conception.

Elizabeth Brennan is a marvellous Viola, the equal of any I have seen anywhere. Her boyish stance and demeanour when in disguise are as convincing as the total change of voice timbre and inflection, yet she never loses her vulnerability. It’s worth seeing the show just for her performance; but there’s also the marvellous Mark Dickinson as Feste the jester. His singing and guitar playing are always a delight, but this time he brings nuance and a world-weariness to the role. Kevin Hopkins is deliciously OTT as the drunken Sir Toby Belch, and who knew he was such a good singer?

Syd Zygier gives Olivia a brilliant bi-polar quality…with moods swinging from excitedly manic, to almost comatose depressive at times. Hugh Sexton steals every scene as Malvolio, and the “Deep South Gospel” rendering of Malvolio’s torment – where he rises from beneath the stage in a cloud of smoke, is hilarious. He also has perfect diction, which is a great asset when some of the lines do get swallowed or thrown away by other performers. Charlie Sturgeon actually makes Duke Orsino credible and sympathetic, and Claire Nicholls is impressive and delightfully saucy as the maid Maria. James Coley looks right as Sebastian but his style is perhaps a little too modern; and Louisa Fitzhardinge and Bryony Hindley offer fine support.

Shakespeare in the Park is a Melbourne institution, and long may it continue. I can’t imagine Melbourne in summer without it.

Coral Drouyn