As I said in my review of Melbourne Shakespeare Company’s recent production of Hamlet, I’ve seen a lot of Hamlets. But I’ve only seen Twelfth Night once. In 2010, Bell Shakespeare reimagined the play as happening at the height of an Australian summer, the ensemble of actors sheltering in place and telling the tale as they wait for a bushfire to pass. A pile of clothes and other found objects in the middle of the stage at the Fairfax Theatre remains indelibly in my mind.
That
production had so much doubling, one actor had to sword fight himself and the
layers of men playing women in the text was further complicated by a man
playing Olivia throughout. This new production also happily embraces cross-gender
casting with women playing Malvolio, Atonio and the Sea Captain.
Both productions
fully embrace the opening line of the play, too. “If music be the food of love,
play on” – weaving in modern songs that complement and complicate the text. This sort
of playfulness works well in Twelfth Night – one of the bard’s most
enduring farces.
Melbourne
Shakespeare has been doing cut-down, outdoor, musical adaptations of
Shakespeare’s work since 2018 when they staged Romeo & Juliet. They
have recently pivoted to doing some of the more serious plays at Fortyfive
Downstairs – like Hamlet earlier this year and Julius Caesar in
2023. Their work proves how robust the texts are: you can take them seriously
or have serious fun with them.
Twelfth
Night in St Kilda’s
Botanic Gardens is serious fun. “Stop Right Now” by the Spice Girls is Olivia’s
girl-power anthem. Orsino is belting out “Uptown Funk”. And, at one stage, they
are battling each other with these songs as weapons. Later, Viola sings “When a
Man loves a Woman” to Olivia, when the latter still thinks she’s a man.
Sir Toby and Sir Andrew dance to Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping” in this
version, just like they did in Bell’s 2010 outing of the show, too.
This
truncated version relies on the characters having name labels, to get past
having to do a full set-up, and it helps the audience keep track of who is who,
for anyone not familiar with the play. This might feel like intro-to-Shakespeare,
but that’s also true of Ten Things I Hate About You - a great introduction
to The Taming of the Shrew.
The whole
ensemble is having a heap of fun. Standouts are Stephanie Astrid John’s cheeky Viola,
Joshua Gordon’s fabulous Feste and Laura Iris Hill’s hilariously hammy Malvolio.
Director Jennifer Sarah Dean delights in the outdoor space; while most of the
action is played in front of a beautifully decorated rotunda, the rest of the
cast can be seen in the near and far background, behind hedges and rows of rose
bushes.
Outdoor
productions are at the whims of the weather, of course, and mosquitoes. The
weather was pleasant on Sunday night but chilled off when the sun went down.
The mozzies remained. But seeing Shakespeare under a bright clear sky
as the sun sets makes the whole experience feel that much more special. This shrunk-down,
musical Twelfth Night is a delight.
- Keith Gow, Theatre First
Twelfth Night is playing at St Kilda Botanic Gardens until December 22
Photos: Nick Robertson
Comments