Twelfth night @ The Globe

October 21st 7:30pm showing.

Having always been apprehensive over whether productions at The Globe would either lull me to sleep or kill me of leg ache while standing in a pit, I was pleasantly surprised when ‘Twelfth Night or what you will’ held my attention from start to finish and forced me into fits of laughter.

Being 5’1 and worried about not being able to see the show fully from the pit, I opted for seating tickets; enjoying pre-show energy from up high as the audience filled in to the space below; and taking in the breathtaking architecture of The Globe for the first time, thinking how could I not have come here sooner. In hindsight, I saw the appeal for the standing option, with some of the best moments in the play involving audience interaction - joyfully watching near to the stage audience members be teased by actors, made to hold props, sprayed with water and even invited up onto stage.

As a lover of modernised Shakespeare - perhaps due to my lack of confidence in Shakespearian vocabulary - I had accepted I was in for a classical depiction of the famous play. I was intrigued to see that this production surpassed my expectations, hitting both birds with one stone. This play is a beautifully balanced and well designed production, with improvised modern elements and clever interpretations of text to create comedy, combined with a refreshingly non-pyrotechnic, video or AI manipulated form, focusing purely on it’s natural art, history and text.

The cast mostly did well to project the famous words across the mass of bobbing heads in front of them; however I found it hard from the seats to make out all voices; meaning my 70 year old father with hearing aids, who I brought with me, was probably a lot more confused about the plot at times than he let on.

A stand out performance was undeniably Pearce Quigley playing Malvolio. His brilliant comedy timing, undeniable command for the stage and excruciatingly still, bitter and up tight interpretation of Olivia’s steward made his entrances unquestionably the most popular.

Though Quigleys performance was so memorable, it is to be said that Ronke Adékoluéjo ‘s excellent portrayal of Viola, in such a unique way, with vibrancy and quick energy was undeniably genius and the show similarly was held up by a chorus of incredible quick witted, energetic performances from most recognisably Alison Halsted and Jocelyn Jee Esien. Without these characters carrying us through the story I do not believe the audience would have been so on-side as they were, creating an amazing theatre atmosphere, that is often missing in some of the ‘money grabber’ shows of today.