TWELFTH NIGHT – AUSTRALIAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
If music be the food of love, play on.
Located by the Observatory in the Royal Botanical Gardens, we wandered back to the 17th century for a night out to enjoy a show curated by the revered Australian Shakespeare Company. Elated to enjoy a family-friendly, cultural experience, we managed to catch the performance of Twelfth Night;a romantic comedy exploring gender identity and sexual attraction, filled with a plethora of slapstick humour and wit. Having only the contemporary teenage comedy movie She’s The Man as our reference point, we kept an open mind as the show began and the performers took to the stage.
Twelfth Night covers the story of a cross-dressing heroine Viola, AKA Cesario (Elizabeth Brennan), who after being separated from her twin Sebastian in a shipwreck, finds herself serving Duke Orsino (Hugh Sexton). Navigating a complicated love triangle, the basis of the performance has Orsino lust over Countless Olivia (Anna Burgess), who finds herself falling for Cesario, unbeknownst to her that Viola is in disguise. A tale of intrigue, desire, jest and love, the cast manages to capture the essence of Shakespeare in bringing to life one of the classics. We laughed at the ruckus caused by Sir Toby Belch (Kevin Hopkins), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Anthony Rive), Fabian (Madeleine Somers) and Maria (Claire Nicholls) throughout the performance, the ever-apparent commentary provided by Feste (Patrick Schnur) and the pranks pulled on the vain and pompous Malvolio (Dion Mills).
The performance of Twelfth Night was directed and designed by Glenn Elston, and credit goes to all involved for putting on a wonderful show. The cast had the audience sitting on the edge of their seat (or picnic rug) for the entirety of the performance and managed to find the perfect blend of delivering an old classic with a modern and intriguing take. We look forward to heading back to see some more Shakespeare at the drop of a hat. If you are interested in attending the show, or any other productions by the Australian Shakespeare Company, head to their website to get all the relevant information.
Photo Credit: Nicole Cleary