Twelfth Night

With only ten days of rehearsal before the opening night, the presentation of 'Twelfth Night' at the end of the summer term, was nothing short of miraculous. This production, set in the Mediterranean in the 1930s, cleverly wove together the decadent society of the Italian upper classes with their parasitical hangers-on, and the fascist black shirted militia of Mussolini's Italy.

'Sure care's an enemy to life' declares Sir Toby, and this production bubbled over with joie de vivre and fun. Much of this was created in the bacchanalian scenes with Sir Toby (Mr Peter Thomas), Maria (Victoria Ford) and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Duncan Fidler) all of whom played their parts with exceptional vivacity (and some quite startling facial expressions!) None of the serious characters really posed any threat to the comedy: the fascist militia were a group of bumbling clowns, whose graphic slapstick and mimes helped the younger members of the audience to follow the plot; the haughty and disdainful Olivia (Milly Davidson) soon overcame her mourning, as love for Cesario broke down her pride; and even the languorous Orsino's (Lucas Barraud) unrequited love became humorous when it was made clear that he was not only in love with love, but also with himself. Only Malvolio's (Rory Fraser-Mackenzie) threat to be 'revenged upon the whole pack of you' and his subsequent membership of the militia, caused any discomfort to the audience, and even that was only because of our prophetic knowledge of events that would soon sweep the world.

The music and dance scenes of the play provided a delightful counterpoint to the action. The music not only helped to accentuate the humour (with Mr Gaston's sliding trombone and Angus Donald's drums a feature here), but also created some charmingly poignant moments. Eddie Fitzpatrick, as Feste and singer, was able to change the mood in a moment, and her wistful rendition of the songs of the Thirties, particularly 'The Way You Look Tonight' at the end of the play, ensured, like Malvolio's final words, that we saw beyond the comic.