WESTON SUPER MARE
 
The Playhouse, Weston Super Mare – 4-6 Feb 02
 

Vibrant, funny, exciting, entertaining, fast moving. These are not adjectives normally applied to the works of the Bard of Avon, but were certainly true of this excellent production from the Shakespeare 4 Kidz Theatre Company.

Local lad, Ben Langley, who also played Antonio, set the scene before the play with jokes, juggling and audience participation, before the stunning, atmospheric, first set depicted the storm that parted identical twins, Sebastian and Viola (Matthew Harper and Nicola Emsley), on to Illyria, neither aware of the other’s safety.

Soon a tangled web of love and intrigue developed as Viola was forced to pretend she was a youth, Cesario, in order to become part of the palace of Orsino (Tristan Carter), with whom she fell in love. In turn, the vain Orsino was in love with the Countess Olivia. Since she was in mourning, Olivia rejected all suitors, until Cesario (Viola in drag remember) visited her with passionate messages from Orsino and was promptly smitten with him (her!). The garden love scene as Cesario tried to reject Olivio’s advances was hilarious. Cesario famously declares, “Time must untangle this; not I.” However, as in life today, time often only thickens the plot.

One of the most touching scenes came as Cesario told Orsino how to declare his love for Olivia, but was actually telling him how she (he), felt for him.

The plot races along and we are treated to the Officers of the Law, who were pure Keystone Kops, in their rendition of “We’re the Men Who Won’t Forget.” Ultimately Sebastian reappears at Olivia’s house, where she, thinking it’s Cesario, suddenly finds her advances reciprocated. Taking advantage of the moment she whisks him off to get married, whilst a shell-shocked Sebastian avers, “If this is a dream, do not let me wake up.”

Meanwhile more confusion is caused as Cesario is now mistaken for Sebastian. Antonio gets arrested, Orsino is distraught and Olivia totally confused, with all the blame subsequently heaped on to Cesario’s shoulders in “It’s you to blame.” Ultimately, Sebastian and Viola are reunited, Cesario is exposed as a beautiful girl and the knots become unravelled. This leads to Orsino falling in love with Viola and they all live happily ever after, just as they should do.

Throughout the show, the slick scenery and costume changes ensured a seamless transition between acts. The star of the show was – the cast. All combined, excellence, professionalism and enthusiasm. However, for me, the best moments were the scenes when the drunken uncle of Olivia, Sir Toby Belch (Mark Lyminster), combined with potential suitor Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Jeremy Worsnip) and Olivia’s Fool Feste (Samuel Dutton). The scenes were hilarious, the humour ranging from lavatorial to slapstick. Brilliant.

A complete spectrum of entertainment is covered in “Twelfth Night”, including singing, dancing, comedy and intrigue, in a riot of colour. This production is now heading for Plymouth and Truro, so if you fancy a trip down the M5, this would make a worthwhile treat. Overall, I don’t think this is Shakespeare 4 Kidz. It’s Shakespeare for everybody. If only it had been like this during my school days, if only. I’ll certainly make up for lost time by pencilling any future Shakespeare 4 Kidz productions as a “don’t miss” treat in my diary.
 
Mike Elliott