Twelfth Night

After a slow start that felt a bit awkward this show really gathered pace and the second half in particular was really full of fun with not a joke un-exploited. Great music and a versatile set keep the show moving at speed, useful when hardly any cuts have been made, though the lighting occasionally left a speaking actor's face in darkness (find your light darlings!). Actually, the three hours fairly flew by.

There has been some gender mixing in this cross-gender play of confusion and twins with both Orsino (Colette Dalal Tchantcho) and Sebastian (Joanne Thomson) played as "trouser roles" and Tobi (Dawn Sievewright) switched to Lady Tobi. Within the context of this wildly confused comic play this really matters not a jot.

I found Christopher Green's Malvolio and  Guy Hughes' Aguecheek particularly impressive but the night really belongs to the wildly crazy and versatile Feste played by Dylan Read ... a most extraordinary performance. The cast, who play the instruments, sing and move the set as well, work well as a team but there is some mix in styles that grates occasionally, especially in the first half, with some characters relying abit much on comedy voices while others are more naturalistic.

An excellent show that will give you a great evening out!