Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is given a jazz-age twist in a new musical version of the classic comedy currently entertaining audiences at The Rose Playhouse. And instead of taking place in the Bard’s Illyria, the action in this production takes place on an ocean liner. Book your tickets now!
Set in roaring 20s, aboard the SS Illyria, where the band performs music by Rihanna, Britney Spears, Radiohead and more, the plot still involves two separate campaigns. The first sees the lovesick Duke Orsino try to win the heart of the indifferent Olivia. The second is a plot hatched by Olivia’s servants and hangers-on to put the pompous Malvolio in his place. When Orsino employs Viola – at that point dressed as a man and called Cesario – to plead for his love on his behalf, it triggers a chain of hilarious and bittersweet events.
OVO’s production of Twelfth Night is the latest incarnation of Shakespeare’s audience-pleasing comedy to grace the London stage. It follows Kwame Kwei-Armah‘s recent musical offering at the Young Vic, the National Theatre’s Tamsin Greig-led production in 2017 and Southwark Playhouse’s recent Shakespeare for Schools production that ran earlier this year.
Speaking about his inspiration for this 90-minute version of Shakespeare’s play, director Adam Nichols said:
Our starting point for every Shakespeare production has been to ask ourselves how would Shakespeare present this play if he were writing for a contemporary audience. People often refer to ‘modern dress’ productions of Shakespeare, as if sticking the actors in flapper dresses or flares, or superficially transporting the action to Nazi Germany or Edwardian London will, in itself, make a play more relevant to a contemporary audience.
You can’t impose a theme on any Shakespeare play just because you have taken a fancy to art deco interiors or 80s new wave music. Theme and setting have to emerge from the characters, their situations and the words they speak. OVO aim to provide universally accessible and enjoyable entertainment for more casual theatregoers, whilst satisfying Shakespeare aficionados and honouring the great man’s legacy.
The cast of Twelfth Night is led by Lucy Crick as Viola, with Joshua Newman as Sebastian, Will Forester as Orsino and Emma Watson as Olivia. Hannah Francis-Baker, Anna Franklin, James Douglas, Jane Withers, Faith Turner, Andy Margerison, David Widdowson, Alex White, Tom Cagnoni and Elena Ollett complete the cast.
The Changeling
Twelfth Night was originally staged at the Maltings Arts Theatre earlier this month, and is the first of four exciting productions to be staged by OVO at the St Alban’s venue this summer. It is followed by a version of Middleton and Rowley’s The Changeling set in a world of celebrity and privilege, a revival of Mike Bartlett‘s Contractions in which two actors will alternate in the leading roles, and a revival of OVO’s hit 2018 production of Macbeth that will be staged at the Roman Theatre of Verulamium.
The production marks the 30th anniversary of the discovery of The Rose Playhouse on Bankside. Built in 1587 as the first theatre on London’s Bankside, the archaeology of The Rose was discovered in 1989 when a site was cleared to build offices. Since then, more than 700 small objects have been discovered on the site and the majority of the ground plans of the theatre have been uncovered. In addition to performances, the venue also hosts an exhibition about the theatre.
About OVO Theatre
OVO is an award-winning theatre company based at the Maltings Arts Theatre in St Albans. They believe in creating exciting and artistically innovative theatre without financial support, which they feel can often be the motherhood of invention. OVO aims to present a new twist on the old classics, usually through the use of music and a strong concept or setting.
