Be Not Afraid of Greatness!

It is nice to finally see some Shakespeare on stage for a change!! I cannot remember seeing any before I started my write-ups, but it is certainly the first time since I began; and it was a brilliant choice to pick, as I went along last Friday night to Manchester's Royal Exchange to catch their production of Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night.

Believed to have been written 1601/1602, the show follows Viola, a young woman shipwrecked on an Illyrian beach. Without her brother (whom she believes dead), she tries to survive by disguising herself as a man, renaming herself Cesario, and getting a job with the Duke Orsino. What follows is a whole lot of hilarity and confusion as Orsino's love Olivia ends up falling for "Cesario"......

I had of course heard of the piece, but did not know a lot about it. My parents (who I went to see it with), had many years ago; however, it was apparently nothing like this particular production. They really brought out the humour in the piece, as well as the innuendos, of which there are a LOT (the best of which may not let me think of hand cream the same again....)!!

A lot of this has to do with the cast, who were all excellent, from Faith Omole's confused Viola, Simon Armstrong's hilariously drunken Sir Toby Belch, Anthony Calf's unfortunate Malvolio and Kate Kennedy's Olivia. The best of which though, for me anyway, was the inspired choice of casting award-winning trans actress and activist Kate O'Donnell as Feste the fool. Not only gives it another level of depth to a play already rich in discussing roles, she gives an interesting touch to the final song, one I will not ruin, as it does give a little pondering thought to finish with. Whether clad in a long grey coat or turquoise feathers pushing a shopping trolley full of neon lights etc, she was a delight to watch and I always looked forward to her arriving on stage.

I also want to mention the use of music, as they had a group of musicians integrated into the company; and I must say I enjoyed it just as much as O'Donnell's performance. Giving a folk (sometimes too an Eastern European) vibe, it fitted in so well to this particular adaptation, and (featuring Joseph Gravil on guitar, Tarek Merchant on accordion, Jill Myers on brass and Kate Young on violin and vocal), they really are incredibly talented.

Twelfth Night ends this Saturday (20th May '17), and so if you haven't had chance, and want to see something which is guaranteed to make you laugh, it is well worth a catch.