Twelfth Night at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Twelfth Night is no stranger to Regents Park Open Air Theatre, being the very first production staged at the venue back in 1932. This comedy revels in Shakespeare’s knack for constructing a humorous plot, which revels in disguise and pushes the mistaken identity device to its edges.

“I am not what I am,” announces Viola (Evelyn Miller), and, “Nothing that is so, is so,” declares Feste (Julie Legrand). This fast-paced romantic comedy sees genders confused, disguised and subverted – and Owen Horsley’s production embraces this non-conformity.

Michael Matus’s spectacular display in drag gives Sir Toby’s excessive drunkenness, practical jokes and crude allusions even more animation. His cruel rouse to descend Malvolio (Richard Cant) into madness, cooked up with the sharp-witted waiting-gentlewoman Maria (Anita Reynolds), as well as Fabian – referred to as “Fab Ian” (Jon Trenchard) – hilariously welcomes the audience in on the trick.

Although the Bard’s classical kingdom of Illyria is taken straight from antiquity, the stage isn’t quite lit by the Mediterranean sun. Instead, Basia Binkowska’s wide-open and timeless navy blue set allows characters to come and go from Olivia’s (Anna Francolini) queer cafe by the sea. Florescent beams of blue, pink and green light, as well as softer notes to match the mood, stream in through porthole windows.

Francolini’s Olivia rightly takes centre stage, her diva attitude demanding she have her name up in lights. A neon sign towers above the set, facing away from the audience and pointing toward the outside world. This setup means that the letters spelling out OLIVIA are inverted as a mirror image, alluding further to the theme of reversal and opposites.

One of the first lines the audience hears is one of Shakespeare’s most famous: “If music be the food of love, play on.” However, the show’s melodies felt lacklustre and unnecessary. The jazzy tunes were suave enough, yet their accompanying lyrics lost their meaning, leaving a feeling of irrelevancy.

Ryan Dawson Laight fits Viola and Sebastian (Andro Cowperthwaite) in simple, off-white, striped sailor-inspired attires, purposely gender-neutral in order to accentuate their misgendering. However, Laight doesn’t hold back with Olivia’s dramatic and showy wardrobe. Channelling the likes of Bette Davis and Judy Garland, Olivia mourns her brother in an excessive and iconic black and bejewelled funeral attire, fit with a veil, which trails miles behind her.

This comedy of cruelty ultimately leaves Olivia jilted, yet sees Sebastian given the ending he deserved in hand with the loyal Antonio (Nicholas Karimi). “Ladies and gentlemen, and what you will”, you’re in for a playful and bittersweet story, which celebrates Shakespeare’s use of language to toy with sexuality and same-sex love. Bringing this to the forefront of the play without allowing it to cloud the narrative, the end result is a plot full of wit and chemistry, blending an over 400-year-old play with modern-day queer culture.

Olivia Gardener
Images: Richard Lakos

Twelfth Night is at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre from 11^th May until 8^th June 2024. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.