Lovers mismatched, siblings detached, and plans of trickery hatched: it is the time of year for Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (otherwise known as What you will), performed in St Hugh’s College by the Oxford Rep Company. Jazzy live music greeted audience members coming in as we were faced with two neon bar signs: “‘Orsino’s”’ and “‘Olivia’s”’. The music and set created an ambience to the new imagining of Illyria that was about to unfold.
I was initially shocked when the first lines were not the much expected “if music be the food of love play on”, but instead a modern exchange between Orsino (Ezana Betru) and Curio (Georgina Cotes) debating what to “text” Olivia about Friday night plans. Although this was fleeting (and I was thankful when the Shakespearean dialogue followed soon after), it set the precedent for the playful and witty show ahead.
Twelfth Night’s premise depends on the art of disguise and the unfolding of mistaken longings. It is undoubtedly a play of doubles. Following a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a man (Cesario) to work for Count Orsino. While her heart turns towards him, Orsino’s desire belongs to Olivia. Caught in a classic Shakespearean entanglement, Olivia subsequently falls for Viola’s male disguise. Deceit is at the forefront of the plot, and every cast member in this production was able to subtly share the inner longings of their characters with the audience, inviting us to be omniscient listeners with knowing glances.
While there is no explicit need for extensive disguises, the costumes as a whole were temporally ambiguous. Yet the explicit incorporation of wireless headphones and sunglasses as modern props was a tasteful touch. The Oxford Rep Company placed interludes of the modern world into Shakespeare’s winter comedy with discerning timing. An entertaining moment was when Viola (Darcey Willing) built up into bursts of rap when first trying to woo Olivia (Harriet Wellock) on behalf of Orsino. Occasionally it was hard to tell whether the actors were ad-libbing their 21st century exclamations or whether their calls to the band were well -thought out and scripted; either way, the effects were amusing.
Sienna Jackson Wolfe’s production embraced the comedic revelry of Twelfth Night with full dramatic force. The notable audience favourites were of course Sir Toby Belch (Flynn Ivo) and Sir Andrew (Gilon Fox). Shakespeare’s text allows these brazen kinsmen to be a great base for comedy in any production, but Fox and Ivo navigated their double act with a witty rapport that was very pleasing to watch, resulting in many laughs throughout the show. A personal highlight was when their drunken antics resulted in oscillations between quiet whispers and jaunty song, disturbing the stricter members of Olivia’s entourage. Ivo in particular did a good job of not making drunk-acting cringe. He performed with a controlled sloppiness that was both funny and believable.
Comedic moments also arose out of more romantically charged scenes. Kick-started by Orsino and Viola (who is dressed as Cesario) having flirtatious chemistry from the start, the production anticipated their eventual fate by having the pair lean into a near kiss which is suspensefully interrupted. The audience were later assuaged after this anti-climax by the intense homoerotic kiss between Sebastian (Luke Nixon) and Antonio (Bailey Finch-Robson) moments before they part ways. Sebastian is bound for Orsino’s court and insists on making this journey on his own. Antonio, out of devotion and loyalty (secretly) follows him anyway.
The play’s resident fool ‘Feste’ (Ethan Bareham) was a sly yet important presence on the periphery of the stage, helping the audience to locate themselves among the mishmash of identities by switching the neon signs of “Orsino’s” and “Olivia’s” on and off between scenes. This was a subtle detail yet added to the well-rounded and clear staging. Bareham was very versatile (a quality inherent to playing a Shakespearean fool) and did well to ventriloquise many voices. His voice went beyond just speech as he broke into a soulful rendition of “What is love? Tis not hereafter”, comically bringing Sir Andrew and Toby to drunken tears. The songs were supported by the pleasing resounds of Orsino (Ezana Betru) playing the Saxophone with a debonair poise.
Jackson-Wolfe’s production team collaborated in creating a satisfying rendition of Twelfth Night, adding attentive detail when needed and bringing out a jolly essence in the play. The lighting (operated by Juliet Taub) added a charming layer to the fast-paced scenes: Malvolia’s infamous yellow stockings protruded against the yellow backlight.
A gripe of mine about (usually student) adaptations of Shakespeare is the affected tone with which actors feel they need to speak their lines in order to sound like a ‘thespian Shakespearian’. However, I would like to commend this cast, as most of them executed the words with natural ease. Special mentions must go to Luke Nixon (Sebastian) and Kate Harkness (Malvolia). Both of whom seemed to have a particular instinct for the rhythm and intonation that Shakespeare’s prose and verse calls for.
Harkness should also be praised for her acute pronunciation and tonal precision in every line, something much harder to achieve than she made it look. The militance that she brought to Malvolio’s character was thoughtfully broken down in the final act, for while Twelfth Night is a comedy, it does not end happily for everyone. As merry reunions collide with frisky new couples, the darker truths of the play are revealed by the mistreatment of Malvolia, left humiliated and ostracised. Harkness brought the first truly sincere moment to a show that had thus far been largely jovial, driving the scene to a powerful standstill. There was a noticeable quiet on stage as she made her final exit, vowing for revenge.
Yet it is the fool’s final song that must tie up the performance. In this production, the lines were spoken and layered with a faint song recording as accompaniment. This decision brought a powerful auditory heaviness to the last two lines: “But all that’s one, our play is done, And we’ll strive to please you every day.”
