Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

London Eye (from Victoria Embankment)
Originally uploaded by dwri.

December 29, 2006

Novello Theatre, London, UK

It had been years since I had any encounter with William Shakespeare, managing to avoid his works during college without fail. So, I was slightly nervous for our second theatrical encounter in London. Twelfth Night is a play I was not previously familiar with, which created difficulties in following the plot, and without our high-level introduction beforehand I fear I may have fallen victim to complete confusion. Performed at the newly refurbished Novello Theatre, the December 29, 2006 production of Twelfth Night by the Royal Shakespeare Company proved to be hit, but unfortunately more miss during the course of the evening.

I was thrilled to experience Shakespeare in London. Perhaps being in the place where most of the magic was first transcribed on paper would propel me to a new appreciation of his work, or provide me the required motivation to comprehend his work. The theatre was nice, yet the seats were uncharacteristically cramped and uncomfortable. Upon entering, the first thing I noticed was an unusual display of props: music stands, chairs and desks hung by string, dangling in air. I was hoping for a non-traditional interpretation of Shakespeare’s work, and the play delivered in that regard without fail.

I thoroughly enjoyed the use of music throughout the evening. The implementation of violin, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, cello, double bass, percussion and keyboards created a very retro vibe amidst modern costuming. The music, composed by John Woolf and Sianed Jones, both doubling as musicians during the performance, was a very successfully entwined accent to the play’s progression. The music had a very defined and familiar yet new and non-conformed sense to it, as composer Jones brings a worldly influence to the project, having previously studied various styles from Welsh choral to East African techniques.

For me, the beauty of this production rested in the original musical compositions and the creation of a simultaneous modernistic yet retro feeling through lighting and costuming. The combination of a modern interpretation and the feeling of a 1940’s Jazz Club during the scenes involving music come together to imply that the story is timeless, but unfortunately, the acting did not portray the story as a timeless piece of material. The character of Feste (Forbes Masson), jester and servant to Olivia (Aislin McGuckin) captured the heart of the original compositions with his vocal talent, but unfortunately, for assuming the role of comic relief, he fell short with his acting. However, with that said, my favorite moment during the play was Feste’s moving vocal performance at the piano, capturing most of the magic that a gifted lounge performer would capture on a late night at a smoky hotel singing to an intimate crowd.

Overall, I feel the production could have been more appropriately adapted to a modern setting. I appreciate the avant-garde, or experimental, unorthodox approach, however it forces the question to whether we really need productions that go beyond the true intent of Shakespeare’s work? If Shakespeare were writing today, he surely would break the mold yet again, but it does not mean that a performance in 2435 of his work from this century would require futuristic adaptation. Shakespeare’s writing is brilliant, and the focus should be on the words, not conceptual visions that compete with the strength of the pen with which he wrote. And, unfortunately, this performance of Twelfth Night competed with the poetry in Shakespeare’s writing.