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Twelfth Night

Jack Studio Theatre

Reviewed – 17th January 2020

★★★★

“It’s hard to figure out which is greater, the vibrant whole or the sum of its high-calibre parts”

Yard Players follow up a successful production of King Lear by whip-panning to the other end of Shakespeare’s spectrum, staging his seasonal romantic comedy at the same venue. The audience’s age range suggests Director (and Set Designer) James Eley’s plan to make the classics accessible to all is working, though Twelfth Night traditionally doesn’t need much help, with enough pranks, set pieces and comedy devices to please any post-Christmas crowd.

An intelligent and thorough production starts by shifting Illyria to Northern England, bringing the enjoyable impression that Viola (Jessica Kinsey, sole survivor from King Lear) is shipwrecked somewhere off the shore of Grimsby, then finds herself in the thrall of Duke Orsino (Duncan Drury) a lovestruck local aristocrat who previously had only his Alexa to talk to. In this world, Andrew Aguecheek (also Duncan Drury) is a gratingly braying twit in a flat cap with more money than brain cells and Maria (Heloise Spring) is a lairy troublemaker in tracksuit and hoop earrings.

New jokes are heaped upon 400-year-old ones with a mania that makes the arrival of Viola’s twin, Sebastian (James Viller), in an earnest scene with saviour, Antonio (Daniel Chrisostomou), a huge and welcome relief. This change of pace, style and mood is also a helpful signpost for the arrival of the main plot, a directorial ploy that is used again in the second half, when Malvolio (Daniel Chrisostomou again), as protagonist of the comedic sub-plot, is tormented. As the lighting changes, pinioning him in a red spotlight surrounded by darkness, his comedy becomes tragic and his sub-plot starts to usurp the main story. By the end, Malvolio’s ‘notorious wrong’ carries the greater dramatic weight, overshadowing the supposedly symmetrical love matches that are intended to set things right and send audience spirits soaring.

If it opts for a darker denouement, there is no lack of joy in the performance and creative arts. The substance Daniel Chrisostomou manages to invest in both Malvolio and Antonio gives the production its unusual gravitational force, but it is balanced on the comedy side of the scale by Pete Picton, who is as watchable a Sir Toby Belch as you could find at any ticket price, sowing confusion and enmity with the blamelessness only a drunkard can expect to pull off. James Eley’s nautically themed set is both impactful and detailed and Maeve McCarthy’s compositions are apt in their scene-setting, if rustically played, while Paul Lennox’s Lighting Design, as mentioned, is sparingly deployed but emphatic.

It’s hard to figure out which is greater, the vibrant whole or the sum of its high-calibre parts. Characters occasionally seem to be performing in different comedic genres alongside each other, but the ensemble playing is fast moving, the mischief and malevolence isn’t ignored, and some moments of empathy and pathos slip through at surprising moments.

Reviewed by Dominic Gettins

Photography by Yard Players

Twelfth Night

Jack Studio Theatre until 1st February

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Cinderella | ★★★ | December 2018

Gentleman Jack | ★★★★ | January 2019

As A Man Grows Younger | ★★★ | February 2019

Footfalls And Play | ★★★★★ | February 2019

The Silence Of Snow | ★★★ | March 2019

Queen Of The Mist | ★★★½ | April 2019

The Strange Case Of Jekyll & Hyde | ★★★★★ | September 2019

Moby Dick | ★★★★★ | October 2019

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★★★

“the Ed Miliband of Shakespeare: reliable, dependable, with the right words in the correct order but lacking that sense of purpose or timeliness”

I understand why people want to put on Shakespeare. It’s deep, people want to watch it, and it’s royalty free. What more could you want? But Shakespeare isn’t impressive like surgery is, it’s impressive like running a marathon is. Now, everyone has seen a marathon and if you want to make a statement you either need to do it exceptionally well, or you need to dress up as a Rhino and deliver your message.

And if putting on a Shakespeare isn’t like running a marathon, then it’s really like trying to be prime minister or a member of parliament. I want to know ‘why you?’ What does the version of Lear say different from the last? What extra insight do you have into our contemporary world? What do you believe in? This production of King Lear was the Ed Miliband of Shakespeare: reliable, dependable, with the right words in the correct order but lacking that sense of purpose or timeliness.

James Eley’s production at the impressive Jack Studio Theatre isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. The cuts to the script are sensible; the performances are credible, and the production tells the story. But this is all cone and no ice cream. It leaves an audience member wanting more and with their attention free to focus on minor defects of pace and accent. You will be sure you saw King Lear but not sure why.

Themes were suggested and hinted but never committed to. In the beginning, the play seemed to be set in a series of pubs with Lear and his daughters as landlords, and club owners waging a turf war. But then the ‘fool’ was more Commedia dell’arte, the fighting Tarantino and the soundtrack part classical and part brit pop. Edmund became Ada with lesbian relations, but nothing came of it. All good ideas but the question ‘why’ just swirls and swirls.

Lear isn’t a simple production, and between disguises and actors playing many parts, it’s easy to get lost. Our players did a reasonable job of telling the story and keeping it clear, although occasionally we got lost with some scenes delivered like the actors quickly needed to get to the end. The experience of Christopher Poke (Glouster) and Alan Booty (Lear) did shine as they slowed down and gave some timing to the scenes.

Ultimately this is not a bad show. Lear is long and challenging and complex and just getting through it is often enough as the text does so much. If you like Shakespeare then this is worth a shake. But if you’ve read King Lear, you know the rough story, and you’re looking for more then you might be disappointed. In the end, just like a politician, I would prefer a flawed play with something to say, rather than a polished production saying everything all at once.

Reviewed by William Nash

Photography courtesy Yard Players

Jack Studio Theatre

Reviewed – 17th January 2020

★★★★

“It’s hard to figure out which is greater, the vibrant whole or the sum of its high-calibre parts”

Reviewed by Dominic Gettins

Photography by Yard Players

Twelfth Night

Jack Studio Theatre until 1st February

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Jack Studio Theatre

Reviewed – 21st March 2019

★★★

“the Ed Miliband of Shakespeare: reliable, dependable, with the right words in the correct order but lacking that sense of purpose or timeliness”

Reviewed by William Nash

Photography courtesy Yard Players

King Lear

Jack Studio Theatre until 30th March

Previously reviewed at this venue: