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Twelfth Night - St Catherine's College - Thursday 12th June 2003
Hardly an auspicious start..... Negatives aside, I was prepared to give this performance a fighting chance. Shakespeare is difficult to get right in the open air with an inexperienced cast. On a number of occasions, these problems manifested themselves. Lines were garbled or lost, projection was patchy and cues not picked up as quickly as they might have been. However there were some interesting characterisations. Kate Donald gave a lively and clearly spoken performance as Olivia. She brought a smile to her portrayal that is rarely seen in other actresses. Her word painting was varied and intelligent. As Viola, Erin Buckley delivered an appropriate range of emotions with clarity and class. Maybe more could have been made of her masculinity, she certainly appeared more feminine that I had expected. Nevertheless she is an convincing and involving actress. Rohan Unni (Orsino) gave a forthright performance - more passionate than tradition or the text would indicate - but it worked as a whole. Nathaniel Hilger was touching as Sebastian. He could have used a little more volume in places, but was very convincing nonetheless - particularly in his scenes with Antonio (the ardent Ben Whitehouse). Hilger's performance is all the more exceptional as this was his first time on stage. The comedy of Twelfth Night is generated by the antics of the below stairs staff and their conspirators. Malvolio (Simon Tavener) is one of Shakespeare's more endearingly repellent characters. Tavener fleshed out Malvolio wonderfully with zany yellow stockings and a striking emotional depth to the later scenes. Tavener drew the audience along the emotional journey of Malvolio without descending into cliche. Sir Andrew and Sir Toby (James Bounds and Andrew Mell) were well matched. Mr Bounds, in particular, used his vocal range to great effect. Maria (Emily Coates) was very knowing and sensual. There was an edge of danger in her stage presence that balanced the inept sexuality of the men around her. As Feste, Richard Lake could have projected a little more, but his dead-pan and occasionally melanchoic portrayal worked exceedingly well. He also provided an excellent series of songs and other incidental music. On the whole, I enjoyed the performance a lot more than I could have imagined on arrival at St Catherine's. It wasn't revelatory. It was a positive and clear presentation of a well-loved classic. It is a shame that only 5 performances were scheduled.
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