The Gulf News on Twelfth Night, December 13 2001
Twelfth Night
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Open Air
British Touring Shakespeare
We first encounter the characters in this timeless romantic comedy lying unconscious on a beach where they have been washed up following a shipwreck. Cue sound effects: Waves crashing on the shore; seagulls cawing.
The sound echoes over the loudspeakers. But suddenly you remember where you are. On the lawn at the Dubai Ritz Carlton... with real waves crashing on the shore a few metres away over your right shoulder. A somewhat ironic turn. But what's Shakespeare without a bit of irony, eh?
So we sail through the rest of the performance with the tepid waters of the Gulf sighing away in the background, better than anything Tannoy can produce.
It was the perfect setting for this romp of mistaken identity, buffoonery and delightful madness. The action takes place in the mystical kingdom of Illyria, where Duke Orsino is laying suit to Lady Olivia, with not a lot of success. Into their respective courts come two of the shipwreck survivors, Viola and her twin brother Sebastian, who have been separated.
Viola decides to go in search of her brother and decides to pass herself off as a boy, calling him/her self Cesario and gaining a staff position in Orsino's house. As Orsino's pursuit of Lady Olivia's hand becomes less and less realistic, he finds himself falling in love with Cesario. This creates a rather sticky situation, Cesario apparently being a fella and all that.
Asa Joel, as Orsino, finds just the right amount of guilty puzzlement, faced with this love that dares not speak its name. He tries to hold himself back, but is inexorably drawn to Cesario.
Cesario, too, is experiencing a riot of mixed emotions, desperately in love with Orsino but having to bite her tongue to conceal her feelings. Barbara Holroyd-Pearce brings a convincing cauldron of pent-up feelings to the slim and slight Cesario. Her "patience on a monument" speech, one of the set pieces of this play, comes over a treat.
But all is not doom and unrequited love, for this is a play on two levels. Running in parallel with the star-crossed lovers is a farcical comedy, led by that loveable old reprobate Sir Toby Belch, the unwelcome relative who came to stay... and stayed... and stayed.
At first glance, Tom Cocklin might seem a bit young to portray the incorrigible old soak. But as he throws himself into the part with gusto, we find delightful overtones of Billy Bunter as he and his carousing cronies make merry - much to the disdain of the disapproving steward, Malvolio.
The comedy revolves mainly around Sir Toby and his hangers-on trying to set their arch enemy Malvolio up for a fall, using the steward's own self-righteousness as a tool.
Jamie Campbell's Malvolio floats in and out of the set with frowning Presbyterian disapproval of anything that might smack remotely of enjoyment. Campbell manages to instill the character with all the warmth and cheer of a bank manager who has just turned down your application for a loan.
The scene in which Malvolio finds a phoney "love letter" from Lady Olivia, planted by Sir Toby and his pals, involves a neat routine involving a movable Christmas tree that could have come straight out of the Marx Brothers.
Sir Toby's dearest crony, the lame-brained Sir Andrew Aguecheek, is interestingly portrayed as a chalk-faced street mime artist. Joel Wilson manages to clown his way through the part with almost balletic body language.
There is always a temptation with this piece to play up one side of it - usually the comedy - at the expense of the other. But director Miles Gregory has ensured a level playing field for both the lovers and Sir Toby's boisterous crew, making for a well-balanced offering.
The production is fast-paced and never flags for a moment, with the cast obviously enjoying every minute of if. Altogether a fun-filled and rewarding evening, in a superb setting. Watch out for the same cast doing Hamlet at the same location tonight and tomorrow night.
Alexander Lindsay
