Review: Twelfth Night, Nottingham Playhouse

Twelfth Night washes up upon the shores of 1930s Brazil for Nottingham Playhouse’s latest offering where the music 'playing on' is that of carnival calypso through a crackling gramophone and the merry dance the characters embark upon is punctuated with bouts of Capoeira.

 

In a strange land after a shipwreck, twins Viola and Sebastian are separated and presume the other has perished in the waves. Viola disguises herself as a boy and offers the services of her assumed identity ‘Cesario’ to the lovelorn Duke Orsino. The object of his desire is Olivia, in mourning for her late father and brother, and wil have none of Orsino’s suit. Her house is overrun by her drunkard uncle Sir Toby Belch and his drinking companions: the rich fool Sir Andrew Aguecheek, the ribald clown Feste and Maria the maid. Their revelry is derided by the steward Malvolio who is then bated by these plotters into believing Olivia loves him and is, in turn, locked up as a madman. Oliva falls for the disguised Viola, herself in love with Orsino, which until the arrival of Sebastian looks set for stalemate – in love, three always a crowd – and Malvolio is left threatening his revenge. 

Director Paulette Randall takes risks with her bold new concept in the production however these don’t fully pay off. The Brazilian reimagining has merits but is not entirely convincing and feels that the actors are burdened with playing their new context rather than their part. The accents swing wildly from West Indian, Portuguese and Mexican and do little to convey the work of Shakespeare the wordsmith, especially Anthony Ofoegbu's Feste – Olivia’s ‘corrupter of words’. Seun Shote goes down a storm as Antonio, innovatively played as a camp admirer of Sebastian’s, but this has its faults. The reason for Viola’s disguise, partly being her seeking not be recognised as one from Messaline at war with Illyria, is hurried over; in-fact the otherness of the twins never fully investigated throughout. Equally Shote’s performance began to encroach onto others with his over-played effeminate gestures upstaging much of the twins’ reunification. 

The play has some strong performances. Marcus Powell’s haughty Malvolio is extremely watchable and delights the audience in his transformation from his sober attire as the dour steward to looking as if about to play 18 holes in his yellow plus fours and chequered Pringle jumper. He plays the letter scene, where his deception begins, admirably but is not afforded the chance to react to the yelps and interjections from the concealed practical jokers, this a criticism of the direction rather than the clowning of David Webber's Sir Toby or Nicholai La Barrie's  Sir Andrew. 

This Twelfth Night is one weighed down by the baggage of a concept which would have been useful as a departure point but in not stripping away the layers which hindered the development it has impeded the character of text shining through. In its current state it lacks clarity and purpose in its leads, Rebecca Herrod’s Viola does not come across as one of Shakespeare’s strongest women; it is the humour ingrained in the dialogue and stage action which suffers from the yoke of resetting. The production has  good points including an excellent lighting design by Kevin Treacy but there are elements which have been overdone; a disengagement from the concept and stylistics shifting toward a more relaxed focus on the Shakespearian substance could help the production no end.

Twelfth Night: **

Image courtesy of Robert Day