Review of Twelfth Night at Perth Theatre

Oct 4 2011 Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

DOORS – 11 in number – open on a new era for Perth Theatre with Rachel O’Riordan’s first-class debut production as creative director for theatre.

Brave, bold, cruel, fast-moving and very funny, this Twelfth Night is a masterclass in how to stage Shakespeare for a 21st Century audience.

Celtic blood pulses through this much-loved romantic comedy with its darker threads, which O’Riordan has set in post-WWI Scotland. The ship-wrecked twins Viola and Sebastian are Irish, the rambunctious Sir Toby Belch, his niece the wealthy Olivia and her household, including the pernicious steward Malvolio are Scots, and Feste the fool and others are from ‘outside’.

The director has assembled a very strong cast and, making the best use of this deep pool of talent, has introduced some original ideas while keeping true to Shakespeare’s script.

Twelfth Night opens in spectacular style as designer Diego Pitarch’s set becomes a floundering ship in the scariest thunderstorm probably ever to hit the Perth Theatre auditorium.

In the shipwreck, brother and sister believes each other has drowned. Viola takes on her brother’s persona, and the story of love and mistaken identity ensues.

The chaos continues with the debauched Sir Toby, his sidekick Sir Andrew Aguecheek, mischievous maid Maria and Fabian the chef hatching a plot to bring Malvolio crashing down from his airs and graces.

And coursing through Twelfth Night is Feste the fool contributing his many words of wisdom, his bright red jacket standing out amidst the muted colour of set and costumes.

And outstanding was Andy Hockley as Feste- a truly tremendous performance in words, actions and song.

Music does indeed add a wonderful dimension to the production. Conor Mitchell composed the original music and, in character as Curio, he is the audacious pianist sitting, wine glass in hand, at a fractured grand piano atop a splintered staircase.

This is just one of the quirky touches and attentions to detail from cast and production team which help this Twelfth Night truly shine (cue a mention of lighting designer James Whiteside who works magic on stage and behind all the doors through which actors come and go with pinpoint precision).

This reviewer, however, found some of the dialogue became lost when passions boiled over. Shakespeare needs his audience to ‘tune-in’ to his beautiful words – the Irish accent by some of the cast was at times one too many language matters to deal with.

But Steven McNicoll as Sir Toby came over loud and clear despite his character’s state of perpetual inebriation!

Twelfth Night continues until October 15,

Alison Anderson