Twelfth Night Theatre Review

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Twelfth Night Theatre Review

Within a school group, on 12th February 2009, I saw a performance of the Donmar Warehouse production Twelfth Night, starring Derek Jacobi and Ron Cook, at the Wyndam’s theatre.

The dipped stage of the theatre, made from driftwood, gave the appearance of a worn down floor, such as the deck of a boat, which was fitting for the beginning of the play when Viola and Sebastian are shipwrecked. The actors remained on the main raised stage at all times, which helped to create a boundary between them and the audience – this was also effective at moments of direct address, such as Malvolio’s monologues, as the contrast between the previous staging as the fourth wall was broken. A sense of naturalism was achieved by having very few uses of levels within the show – whilst characters often stood or sat, there were no raised areas on the main stage, which created the effect of the characters being in a real life situation. The only level used within the play was in Act IV Scene II, where a trapdoor opened centre stage to create a prison for Malvolio. This also helped to present to the audience the social status of Malvolio at this point in the play – as he is considered mad, he is imprisoned, and is lower in status than the other characters in the scene.

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The use of costume was also very strong within the production. In the opening shipwreck scene, Viola is seen to wear a long flowing gown of layered gauze-like materials, in pale blue and green colours. This was visually very successful at creating an appearance of the sea, as if she was drenched in water, whilst also emphasising her femininity with a boned corset. In her next scene, as Cesario, she wears the same costume as Sebastian, however it is cut to make it look ill-fitting and the wrong size, which creates an element of comedy for the audience, as it ...

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