Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Gavin McAlinden
Purple velour with zebra-striped collars, glitter balls, satin shirts, flares, bold florals and psychedelic swirls, hand-jiving, hip-thrusting dances… Yes, it’s the 1970s and Twelfth Night, captain, but not quite as we know it. The whole cast busts out their best disco moves, and the show is off to a rollicking start. The Acting Gymnasium, a weekly workshop for exploring classic texts, present a flamboyant, fun-loving Shakespearean romp in the Network Theatre, off a tunnel under Waterloo station. The simple, effective set, designed by Camille Godechoux, revolves around a tinsel-curtained bar. Cast members from a dozen different countries all add their own flavours to a comic cocktail, expertly blended by director Gavin McAlinden.
Charles Worthington plays Orsino, the lovestruck count, who opens Shakespeare’s playful comedy with: “If music be the food of love, play on.” In this version, he is a disco king, hustling, bumping and snapping, before breaking off to bemoan his unrequited passion.
Twelfth Night is a classic tale of shipwrecked twins and mistaken identities, love at first glance and domestic rivalry. Twin number one, Viola, is played with unaffected charm and understated swagger by Molly Coates. Grieving for the brother she thinks has drowned, she decides to dress as a man and get a job with Orsino. What could possibly go wrong? She’s soon sharing a spliff with a fellow servant and being sent to woo the Lady Olivia while falling in love with her boss. Prilly Lee’s sassy Olivia, taking off her dark glasses to “draw the curtain and show you the picture”, perfectly counterpoises Viola’s enterprise and wry humour, and the scene where they meet is one of many highlights.
The actors all have an admirably fluent, natural way of speaking, but occasionally swallow or garble the lines. This pacy production speeds through the text in a couple of hours, without seeming to lose anything crucial, and still has time to linger on the songs. The action flags slightly in the second half, but the feel-good tempo is maintained with hilarious cameos from Mimi Yeghworth and Will Abbot as gun-toting cops and Irving Jones as a priest.
Lina Bekkouche’s interpretation of Feste the Jester is unusually flirtatious; the mendicant fool is often played as wise, witty, melancholic, but rarely seductive. The Elizabethan song O Mistress Mine is replaced by an upbeat Yes Sir, I Can Boogie and Bekkouche’s rendition of Winner Takes It All manages to be both sensuous and elegiac, mesmerising her audience both on and off the stage.
Some of the production’s humour comes from the contrast between Seventies lyrics and Shakespearean poetry. Feste sings Play That Funky Music and Viola responds that the song “gives a very echo to the seat/
Where love is throned.” Mostly, the cast draws out Twelfth Night’s inherent comedy with nuance and insight. Helen Probert’s portrayal of the rise and fall of Malvolio, humourless steward of Olivia’s household, is exceptionally watchable.
The play’s other comic characters also throw themselves into their roles. Sir Toby Belch (Aryan Chavda) somersaults onto the stage to the Mission Impossible theme and starts pouring electric-blue drinks, while his loveably idiotic sidekick Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Karl Stefan Hall) nervously wields his afro comb and throws around his money. Nieve Hearity is entertaining as a no-nonsense, Liverpudlian Maria, making lines like “Go shake your ears” sound particularly funny and flippant.
Twin number two, Sebastian, is played with conviction by Tom Hilton. He hits the ground running and promptly hooks up with the smitten Olivia, drowning his confusion in booze from the handy bar. Antonio, the pirate who saves Sebastian from drowning, becomes Antonia. Antonia Ganeva plays her namesake with a poignant mix of abject longing and assurance. There are some Kung Fu-style fights and a bit more dancing as the comedy hurtles towards its denouement. This is a show full of heart, soul and glam rock that channels Shakespeare’s theatrical masterpiece into a fun night out.
Runs until 7 June 2025
