Twelfth Night

Show report – Twelfth Night

Having attended a recent performance of what is considered to be one of William Shakespeare’s greatest comedies at The Playhouse, Sleaford, I feel a huge debt of gratitude towards all those involved in staging this particular work. Why should this be? I’ll explain.

I would have been about eight years old when I was told something about this man who had written several plays and poems and introduced to snippets of his work, but as he was born at Stratford on Avon and I had no idea where that was at the time, this made little impression on me. Fast forward many years, during which I have seen a substantial number of shows, including Shakespeare’s plays, and read many of his works. Then last week I saw members of Sleaford Little Theatre, several of whom I had previously seen on stage, perform “Twelfth Night,” and what a fantastic experience it was.

The sum total of acting talent was immeasurable and under the sensitive and skilled direction of Maria Bates you felt very much part of things. The delivery and phrasing of the words together with the intonation was a joy to listen to and well supported by body language. There was superb characterisation from all the principal players.

The costumes replicated the clothing that was being worn at the time that the play was written (save for some of the footwear) and the props were derived from the same era. The stage lighting was not overly bright and this was most appropriate.

There were also some strangely constructed pieces displayed on the set for which, initially I could not identify a purpose, but as the storyline unfolded these pieces were cleverly used to represent various items and their use culminated in the construction of a place of confinement for Malvolio, since his strange mode of dress and behaviour was identified as his having gone mad!

Another very attractive feature of this production was the wonderful use of folk songs performed at the introduction, between scenes and at the conclusion of this highly entertaining play; the voices of wandering minstrels Teri Clarke and Nigel Creasey blending beautifully. Encouraged by the cast, the audience thoroughly enjoyed joining in the finale song – “All around my hat”- a superb ending to a fantastic show.

My grateful thanks to all who were involved in delivering this amazing example of the Bard’s work!

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.