Twelfth Night

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

Play Opened 6 June 2005, Closed 1 September 2005 (presented in repertory)

Open Air Theatre Inner Circle, Regent's Park, London

Viola and her twin brother Sebastian are shipwrecked during a storm. Each thinks the other is dead. Viola disguises herself as a boy, Cesario, and enters the service of Duke Orsino. The Duke sends Cesario to woo lady Olivia on his behalf. Meanwhile Malvolio is the subject of a cruel joke leading him to believe that lady Olivia loves him, but she has fallen for the disguised Viola whilst Viola is in love with her new master!

Shakespeare’s comedy of mistaken identities, unrequited love, trickery and drunken revelling was the first play ever to be staged at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre back in 1932 and since then it has remained a firm favourite ever since.

The 2005 Season at The Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park also includes: Cymbeline and HMS Pinafore.

NOTE: This theatre is open air and there is no covering over the seating area - performances are never cancelled before the advertised starting time and then only in the event of very bad weather. If cancellation is unavoidable, ticket holders will be entitled to seats up to the face value of their tickets for any other performance in the main repertoire, subject to availability. Refunds are not given for cancellation as a result of the weather.

"The key to Timothy Sheader's exhilarating and enchanting production is the setting. We're in Mexico, in the early 19th century. Jessica Curtis's brilliantly imaginative set features both Spanish buildings and remains of what looks to me like Aztec architecture. Simon Day's sombre, sardonic Feste could be a native Indian shaman, entertaining the colonials with noble condescension. There's nothing English about this production, nothing wistful or melancholy. This is a passion play... How well Shakespeare works, as long as you respect both text and subtext." The Sunday Times

"The Regent's Park Open Air Theatre responds best to shows that have nothing to do with parks, and so it is with Timothy Sheader's production of Twelfth Night, which locates Illyria in a tropical corner of imperial Spain. The place is in carnival mood, with beaked masks and whirring fans, while native drumming mingles with habanera settings of Shakespeare's songs... The combined effect is to turn the play into a hard-edged Latin comedy. It doesn't do much for nuances of character, but it works wonders with the action, re-energising the narrative with scenic overlaps, simultaneous plot-lines, and fully integrated comic ideas. It doesn't plumb the depths, but this is the funniest Twelfth Night I can remember." The Sunday Telegraph