Review by Clara
Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review
Tickets were gifted in return for an honest review
Fancy some Shakespeare for Christmas? The Royal Shakespeare Company brings ‘Twelfth Night’ to the Barbican Centre in London following last winter’s run in Stratford-upon-Avon. This production by director Prasanna Puwanarajah is a festive farce foregrounding fool Feste. Say that five times fast!
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| Samuel West as Malvolio. Photo by Helen Murray. |
“If music be the food of love, play on” swoons the lovestruck Duke Orsino as he pines after Countess Olivia. From the piano that Orsino drapes himself over to the majestic church organ that dominates the Barbican Theatre, music is absolutely central to the production. British-Canadian singer-songwriter Matt Maltese’s original compositions set the atmosphere – at times dreamy, at times melancholy.
When the play opens, the central trio are all grappling with grief and melancholy. Both Olivia and Viola are mourning their respective brothers (one dead; one alive and crucial to the plot). Orsino yearns for Olivia. After various machinations and shenanigans, and the reappearance of Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, the love triangle becomes two happy pairs.
This comedy plays with identity and secrets. Kinships and friendships are tested. Love is lost and found. Viola takes on a male guise – Cesario – to work for Orsino. Olivia is smitten with Cesario but mistakenly marries Sebastian. Olivia’s servant Maria forges Olivia’s handwriting to play a trick on the steward Malvolio. Despite the high stakes of marriage and attempted duels, all’s well that ends well because nobody is truly harmed – except Malvolio. The production doesn’t shy away from darkness in the continuing cruelty that Sir Toby Belch shows Malvolio, and in moments when Sir Toby’s drunkenness shifts from boisterous to threatening.
Freema Agyeman is a convincing Olivia, ably handling the range of emotions that Olivia experiences: offended, sincere, vulnerable, excited. Thom Petty is brilliant as Curio / Organist, providing golden comedic moments through pretend drunkenness, sound effects, and impeccable timing. The reverberating, powerful tones of the church organ lend a real gravitas to select moments.
But a case can be made that Olivia’s fool Feste (Michael Grady-Hall) eclipses all other characters in this production. Feste is the driving force in this reimagining: he dangles from the ceiling to croon moodily, his singing causes Orsino’s men to spontaneously begin ballroom dancing with one another, and he provides farce in spades. Wandering through the seats during the interval and instigating a game of catch, Feste forms a special bond with the audience. His duality of bringing joy and melancholy mirrors the play. As the colossal church organ recedes into the darkness for the final time, Feste mimes control over it. He is perhaps more important than he typically lets on.
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| Michael Grady-Hall as Feste. Photo by Helen Murray. |
I am willing to overlook some confusing design choices (such as a large rectangle of light that is present for a few scenes, and a rectangular grassy hill), but my plea to ‘Twelfth Night’ productions everywhere is to devote more to the Orsino-Viola romance. The script may apportion more lines to the contest of wit between Olivia and Viola-as-Cesario (and it is implied that the twins Viola and Sebastian are sufficiently similar for the Olivia-Sebastian marriage to work), but Orsino and Viola should be an emotional pillar of the play. Their story is a rich vein to tap into: if not playing on Orsino’s gender confusion, then what about accentuating the romantic tension between them, or leaning into the gentle unfolding of affection – much can be done without the aid of dialogue.
The RSC’s ‘Twelfth Night’ is a reflective, cathartic take on one of Shakepeare’s best-known plays. It is a diorama of the full scope of the human experience, and reminds us of the value of facing life with equanimity.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Twelfth Night’ runs at the Barbican Centre in London until Saturday, 17 January 2026. Tickets are available from https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/royal-shakespeare-company-twelfth-night
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| Gwyneth Keyworth as Viola and Daniel Monks as Orsino. Photo by Helen Murray. |
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