If Music Be The Food Of Love, Play On

Wednesday was my busiest day so far - after Hadestown and Company the past couple of days (plus a walking tour St Pauls on Tuesday morning and a backstage tour round the National in the afternoon), my first stop was for the matinee of Twelfth Night at the Young Vic; but this came with a twist, as it is a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's great comedy.

The last time I was at the Young Vic was for Fun Home, and that was so far one of the best things I have seen this year, so the bar has been raised pretty high.
What's also significant is that this is Kwame Kwei-Armah's first outing as Artistic Director at the venue, so even though he's already worked on the piece before, that of its Public Theater's production in New York, this has been the first insight to see where he's going to take the Young Vic next.

I've got to be honest with you, this was a bit of a punt. Like Hadestown and Everybody's Talking About Jamie, while I had an idea about story (having seen the original play at The Royal Exchange), I didn't know anything about this version of the show itself - but it flashed up on my radar, and as it turns out, the tickets were cheap (I got mine for £20), so I thought, "ok, why not give this a whirl?".

This version of Twelfth Night is written by Shaina Taub and unlike the Public's version, is set in the Notting Hill area, with the annual carnival as a big influence - and you get that immediately from the colours popping out from the stage and the vibrancy of the opening number Play On. It's something I haven't really seen since In The Heights.
Speaking of which, just as In The Heights was about community, it seems a good time to mention they really brought the community into the theatre. This is because though the featured cast itself was rather small, they bought in a large chorus made up of locals. It's an inspired choice, as not only did they sound fantastic, but you could tell they were having a ball! I should also mention as the audience were taking their seats, they started to come out in drabs and drabs, waving to the audience, showing each other some dance moves and even passing out kebabs they'd cooked on an onstage BBQ! (Sadly, no food for me). It felt like a big fat community party!

From the community chorus to the main cast itself, they were lead by Gabrielle Brooks as Viola (or Cesario as she is known for most of the piece) who has an incredible voice and you connect and relate with right from the get go; if you don't get the opportunity to see the show itself, check out her singing Viola's Soliloquy on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pedxjm0UckU

As for the rest of the cast, I need to mention Melissa Allen as Feste (the Fool), Natalie Dew as the grieving Countess Olivia (that is until Cesario comes along), and Rupert Young as Duke Orsino; he is gorgeous, and has a beautiful singing voice to match, but the sad thing is that you wish he was in it more. The special mention though has to go to the hilarious Gerard Carey (Half A Sixpence, Shrek) as Malvolio, a part that suits him PERFECTLY, from being a stiff-upper lip type gentleman complete with segueway, to the lovesick yellow-tracksuit-wearing fool!

If you do decide to check this out, and if this takes your fancy, then you absolutely should, be warned that like Fun Home, this show has no interval - so please go to the loo BEFOREHAND as if you have to go in the middle, they won't let you back in! You also only have until 17th November to see it.