Twelfth Night

This show has now closed, click here for a listing of current and future London shows

Comedy Opened 13 December 2005, Closed 31 December 2005

Novello Theatre (formerly Strand Theatre) The Aldwych, London

The Royal Shakespeare Company present William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night in a production directed by RSC Artistic Director Michael Boyd.

Identical twins are shipwrecked and separated on distant shores. Fearing the other to be dead, each embarks on a new life in a strange land.

"Michael Boyd's Twelfth Night is a holiday. Whatever the cares of running the Royal Shakespeare Ccompany, he seems to have shrugged them off in this production. It's fresh, funny, poignant and uses jazz to wonderful effect. I loved it. Feste resembles a young George Melly in his checked suit. Music is not the food of love but, for those starved of love, it's the best substitute going... The final bouquet must go to Gavin Marshall, director of 'aerial movement'. Pigs may not fly but, in this production, pianos, music stands and people do. Love can knock anyone off their feet." The Observer

"Michael Boyd...has an extraordinary gift for conceiving Shakespeare in terms of richly three-dimensional space and visual motifs...watching his new RSC modern-dress account of Twelfth Night, I felt that gift again" The Financial Times

"You know at once that something is wrong. Duke Orsino, a thuggish playboy whose voice and body language strongly suggest he needs counselling. is listening to a pop band. Then an unright piano and the music stands are flown up, and hover up there for the rest of the play... The strategy behind Michael Boyd's production is clear. This play needs revving up. We need speed. We need gags. We don't do posh. Irony and social nuances are out. WS is a people's playwright." The Sunday Times