Twelfth Night

Director Clare Prebble (assisted by Rosie Hannah-Wilson) and Frodsham Players have done an excellent job bringing Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to life in the 21st Century. Setting the play in a Sports Bar (Orsino’s), along with opting for a more modern look for costumes, the cast and creative team retained the classic Shakespearean language but their acting and delivery of such dialogue made is more accessible for a modern audience who may not be so familiar with Shakespeare’s work. They also did a great job at bringing out the comedic moments within the play, having the audience in stitches at times. Most notable was the scene with Malvolio wearing a bucket donned with a sad face on his head, along with Fabian, Sir Andrew and Sir Toby hiding behind the crates unable to contain themselves at the sight of Malvolio’s new fashion choices.

The fight scene with the boxing gloves was a great choice, however I feel they could have made better use of the space by turning around to showcase the scene to the full audience. The show was performed with audience on 3 sides, but I felt there were a lot of moments throughout where some sections of the audience were ignored or not being taken in by the actors.

The play was performed outside in a small courtyard, thank goodness for the nice weather! It was a lovely intimate setting for this performance. In terms of set, there wasn’t a lot. A few chairs and tables were set up to create the bar, along with beer crates stacked up. This worked well for the most part, however I was often unsure if all scenes were meant to take place in the bar or if there were a variety of settings throughout.

Sound was well used and balanced within the production; particularly impressive given it was outdoors. All music was loud enough to be heard but without overpowering the cast. I found that a few of the sound effects, for example the bells, did slightly drown out the cast but they soon adjusted to combat this and increased the volume of their dialogue. I enjoyed the use of subtle underscoring for some of the scenes; the choice of music set the tone nicely.

Costumes used throughout were mostly modern, however there were a couple of more “period” costumes which, for me, felt a little disjointed. A shout out must go to Malvolio’s yellow costume, which was brilliantly funny and leaned into the modern take on the play.

Zoe Edwards took on the role of Viola. She performed with so much passion and emotion, and very clear diction throughout. Olivia was played by Emily Earps who was fully committed to the role. I did find that she performed with the same volume and pace for most of the show, I would have liked to see more ups and downs in the delivery of her dialogue. There were also quite a few moments where Emily remained static for long sections, meaning her back was consistently to the same members of the audience.

In the role of Maria was Jake Powell who gave a hilarious performance. His facial expressions were spot on along with his comic timing. And all in heels – very impressive! Another actor displaying great comedy timing was David Leslie as Feste. His spacing throughout was spot on, he had awareness of the whole audience and performed with conviction and energy.

Andy Wilson and Charlie Prebble took on the roles of Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. The pair worked brilliantly together, bursting with energy and displaying great physicality. Their delivery of their dialogue made it more relatable and understandable to the audience. Feste, Sir Tony, Sir Andrew, Maria and Fabian (Martina Keith-Stewart) all worked extremely well together, providing hilarious moments whenever they were together in all different combinations.

The standout performance of the evening for me was David Varley as Malvolio. His stage presence was consistently strong, fully commanding the attention of the audience. He performed so straight faced which really added to the comedy, especially during the second act. His monologue was expertly delivered with some great moments of addressing the audience. I particularly enjoyed the “smile” he was ordered to put on, and the eye twitching towards the end! He was brilliantly over the top with so much energy. This was a brilliant performance from David – well done!

Overall, the cast projected well throughout, especially when adjusting their volume to contend with passing trains! They were all committed to their roles and performed with purpose, it was clear who each and every character was at all times. I would have liked to see better use of the space from the whole cast, taking in the whole audience. They ended their production with a song, performed by the whole cast which I thought was a lovely touch – it sent the audience home on a high!

Thank you to Frodsham Players for their invite to watch the show, and I wish them the best of luck with their next production, Jekyll & Hyde, to be performed in December 2026.

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