Nick Smurthwaite reports that you feel like you may well be watching the stars of tomorrow, during this deliciously irreverent production.
No stranger to gender swapping himself, Shakespeare would likely have been the first to applaud the National Youth Theatre's deliciously irreverent version of Twelfth Night, which was defined and enlivened by its gender and race-blind casting.
Staged in the NYT's well-appointed studio theatre at its HQ in Holloway Road, North London, just before Christmas, it had a suitably festive vibe, with nine upended Christmas trees suspended from the ceiling, festooned with LED-sprinkled tinsel. Sensibly, director Meghan Doyle (the fifth recipient of the NYT's Bryan Forbes Assistant Director Bursary) focused on performance and vocal delivery rather than anything too elaborate in terms of design.
The 18-strong cast kicked off proceedings with a specially written prologue – sounding decidedly modern-day – giving the audience some idea of what was to follow. This would be a youthful, larky interpretation, though mostly respectful of Shakespeare's original text, with as much exploitation of the play's comic potential as possible. The double act of Selorm Adonu and Alfie Wickham as Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek leaping around like a couple of drunken lads in silly costumes on a stag night, set the tone for what was to come.
The opening storm scene, when the twins Viola and Sebastian are separated, was effectively achieved through music and movement. Several members of the cast were versatile musicians and the frequent musical interludes, often accompanied by dancing – hats off to MD Naomi Hammerton and movement director Sacha Plaige – made a welcome respite from the play's often tedious exposition.
As always with NYT shows, you feel like you may well be watching the stars of tomorrow, and this production had no shortage of young people one could easily imagine going on to greater things in years to come. They all rose to the challenge of staging a 424-year-old play with commendable zest and accomplishment.
Emily Casey brought us a successful female Malvolio, and the other master stroke was dividing Feste the clown into two characters – Fes and Tay – played with great symbiotic flair by Megan Keaveny and Dominic Semwanga.
Twelfth Night was filmed during its Holloway Road run and will be available to watch on the NYT's hub platform.