Review: The Marlowe Society’s Twelfth Night

‘If music be the food of love, play on’

Photo Credit: Mathew Kirkham

A brother dead but not forgotten, a brother lost but not dead, a sister disguised as a young man, a countess absconding the company of men and a count desperate to have her company. These are the players of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. What ensues? A fiercely funny, outrageously absurd and, at times, terribly pained melee of love lost, love regained and new love discovered.

Under Michael Oakley’s direction, this lively production breathes new life into this timeless and beloved story of mistaken identity, gender deception and love confused. The Marlowe Society’s production boasts a stylish set design and a cohesive staging vision – I thought particularly that the love heart balloon motif to indicate a character’s falling in love was very charming. A fabulous live band lends that overblown veneer of melodrama that is more than lived up to in the course of the play and by the quality of the acting. There is a pop aspect to the productions visual appeal that is nonetheless mellow and tasteful in its sophistication.

Photo Credit: Mathew Kirkham

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I note excellent casting in the likeness between H Sneyd‘s Viola and Enya Crowley‘s Sebastian as twins and the production’s play on doubling and mirror imaging is very cleverly done indeed. Both give compelling performances, with Sneyd’s Viola as the play’s emotional crux, cycling through insecurity and concealment to a rewarding conclusion, and delivering a convincing dynamic with Jacob Mellor‘s Count Orsino and his lovelorn antics. Lauren Akinluyi as Olivia is certainly one of the play’s most commanding performances, her slightly neurotic energy and charm generating a larger than life magnetism that ricochets off everyone she shares the stage with. Eddie Adams’s Malvolio too is a powerhouse of the outrageous. The production’s physical comedy did a lot for it – I had a lot of fun watching the trifecta between Theo Francis, as drunken uncle Sir Toby Belch, Toby Trusted‘s Sir Andrew Aguecheeck, a delight to watch in an energetically un-charming yet entirely winning performance, and Elizabeth Peni Brooks playing Maria with an understated glib charm.

Photo Credit: Mathew Kirkham

I really commend that neither subplot paled in comparison to the monoliths of noble love at odds in the main plot; each plotline was equally anticipated and delightful to watch. The timely interjection of music was a delightful asset to the performance – the live band injecting a vivacity into the production with the sung antics of Stella Williamson‘s Feste likewise rewarding the production with a lively energy and sentimentality when required. Tasteful directive choices in characterising Antonio and Sebastian lends a second emotive blow to the play’s conclusion, consistent in a production that has such an interpersonal web run so smoothly.

Photo Credit: Mathew Kirkham

Twelfth Night is immaculately staged, winningly acted and very good fun.

5/5

The Marlowe Society’s production of Twelfth Night is showing at the Cambridge Arts Theatre from the 21st to the 24th of January, at 7:30 with a matinee performance at 2:30 on Saturday the 24th. Don’t miss out on a night of revelry and reunion – grab your tickets here!

Featured Image Credit Mathew Kirkham  

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