Twelfth Night on...er... 12th night?
Wyndham, Donmar Production (Michael Grandage directing) Derek Jacobi as Malvolio, Indira Varma as Olivia, Victoria Hamilton as Cesario/Viola (who looks scarily like Victoria Bitter, for anyone who gets *that* fandom reference. Though she hasn't really changed her look since she was a teenager.). And got a text from Dad saying 'very apt'. Which I didn't get re:date of performance. Yeah. I fail.
HEE. This production has decided to be adorable and just have fun. Very simply staged - the props were essentially a giant set of folding wall doors that opened across the back all over, a couch, and a beach wind breaker for Maria, Aguecheek and Sir Toby to hide behind, and they made very effective use of light to indicate outdoors, early morning, night, etc.
Everyone was great, but I still can't believe I just saw Indira Varma play giggly and giddy as Olivia. All bow before Derek Jacobi as awesome and restrained and menacing and fucking hysterical when doing the cross gartered bit, natch. (they'd set most of act 2 on a beach, in a vague fifties style, so Malvolio was in boater, sailing blazer. knee-length shorts, and yellow knee socks - the cross gartering being modified suspenders) Grimace contortions for the win, and a hip-thrusting Malvolio... oh dear god. The audience was shrieking with laughter when he did that. Other giggles of the awesome were when Orsino's telling Cesario he'll marry him at the end after the reveal... and he'd gone and put Cesario over by Olivia and was addressing *Sebastian*. Audience giggling something chronic, especially with Olivia and Cesario's wtf expressions. Fool awesome. With added cartwheels when switching between Sir Topaz and the Fool. People tugging each other off to bed for the win. Sir Toby and Maria especially.
first time I'd seen Antonio played as a working class gruff sailor bloke, though (promotion to captain *after* the battle, presumably). Which was quite sweet when he was talking about how much he loved Sebastian, because he said it in a very matter of fact way, but it was still clear that he did - kind of gruff 'You know I love you, now can we go down the pub?' (classic moments at stage door - someone pondering why Antonio would risk all that and give his money. me : '....Because he's in love with him? he said it. Quite a few times.' Them : 'Oh.' me : 'he's named Antonio. In a Shakespeare play. Even without that, that makes him automatically gay.' Seriously. HOW DO YOU MISS THAT?) Though what was a bit odd was that aside from a bit in the first scene at Orsino's court where his court is practicing dancing - tango-esque, to be precise - and the other lads are commenting on Orsino favouring Cesario, and Orsino telling him to send all his love to Olivia - there was bugger all homoerotic between Cesario and Orsino. I have *no idea* how they managed that. Seriously. Even in the scene where Orsino asks the fool to play that song again, they're standing on opposite sides of the stage and not even looking at each other, thinking about other stuff, so the scene was focussed on the Fool instead. (music was great, the only problem is that I have the Shaun Davey music hardwired into my brain as default for this from the Trevor Nunn 1996 film - oh, and it turns out I know 90% of the dialogue for Twelfth Night)
Stage door : they're all lovely, but we had to wait ages for the main cast because it was whatsonstage outing night and there was a talk afterwards (the news of this scared off the autograph hunters with their wodges of Dr Who photos to be signed. mwhahaha). All the fun of trying to get your fingers to work in the freezing cold. Derek Jacobi is adorable and was so very pleased when I gushed about him in Henry V being my first Shakespeare, and also said what a lovely audience we'd been. awwwwww (and is very impressed that fairyd123 had a silver pen - thankyou for bagging him for us, btw.). Oh, and bagged a Daniel photo again on his way to the Avenue Q christmas party. And apparently there were sound level recording problems at the concert during his bits, which is why he's not on the Stiles and Drewe album. Sulk.
...moments of famous people : nearly trampled Clive Owen in the bar on the way to the stalls. Er. Whoops? I apologised, then saw who it was. Shorter than you'd think, and not quite as photogenic. Probably one of those people who are ridiculously photogenic and far more attractive when *acting*. Sort of the reverse of the actors who look considerably more angular on camera and are in fact ten times prettier in real life.
HEE. This production has decided to be adorable and just have fun. Very simply staged - the props were essentially a giant set of folding wall doors that opened across the back all over, a couch, and a beach wind breaker for Maria, Aguecheek and Sir Toby to hide behind, and they made very effective use of light to indicate outdoors, early morning, night, etc.
Everyone was great, but I still can't believe I just saw Indira Varma play giggly and giddy as Olivia. All bow before Derek Jacobi as awesome and restrained and menacing and fucking hysterical when doing the cross gartered bit, natch. (they'd set most of act 2 on a beach, in a vague fifties style, so Malvolio was in boater, sailing blazer. knee-length shorts, and yellow knee socks - the cross gartering being modified suspenders) Grimace contortions for the win, and a hip-thrusting Malvolio... oh dear god. The audience was shrieking with laughter when he did that. Other giggles of the awesome were when Orsino's telling Cesario he'll marry him at the end after the reveal... and he'd gone and put Cesario over by Olivia and was addressing *Sebastian*. Audience giggling something chronic, especially with Olivia and Cesario's wtf expressions. Fool awesome. With added cartwheels when switching between Sir Topaz and the Fool. People tugging each other off to bed for the win. Sir Toby and Maria especially.
first time I'd seen Antonio played as a working class gruff sailor bloke, though (promotion to captain *after* the battle, presumably). Which was quite sweet when he was talking about how much he loved Sebastian, because he said it in a very matter of fact way, but it was still clear that he did - kind of gruff 'You know I love you, now can we go down the pub?' (classic moments at stage door - someone pondering why Antonio would risk all that and give his money. me : '....Because he's in love with him? he said it. Quite a few times.' Them : 'Oh.' me : 'he's named Antonio. In a Shakespeare play. Even without that, that makes him automatically gay.' Seriously. HOW DO YOU MISS THAT?) Though what was a bit odd was that aside from a bit in the first scene at Orsino's court where his court is practicing dancing - tango-esque, to be precise - and the other lads are commenting on Orsino favouring Cesario, and Orsino telling him to send all his love to Olivia - there was bugger all homoerotic between Cesario and Orsino. I have *no idea* how they managed that. Seriously. Even in the scene where Orsino asks the fool to play that song again, they're standing on opposite sides of the stage and not even looking at each other, thinking about other stuff, so the scene was focussed on the Fool instead. (music was great, the only problem is that I have the Shaun Davey music hardwired into my brain as default for this from the Trevor Nunn 1996 film - oh, and it turns out I know 90% of the dialogue for Twelfth Night)
Stage door : they're all lovely, but we had to wait ages for the main cast because it was whatsonstage outing night and there was a talk afterwards (the news of this scared off the autograph hunters with their wodges of Dr Who photos to be signed. mwhahaha). All the fun of trying to get your fingers to work in the freezing cold. Derek Jacobi is adorable and was so very pleased when I gushed about him in Henry V being my first Shakespeare, and also said what a lovely audience we'd been. awwwwww (and is very impressed that fairyd123 had a silver pen - thankyou for bagging him for us, btw.). Oh, and bagged a Daniel photo again on his way to the Avenue Q christmas party. And apparently there were sound level recording problems at the concert during his bits, which is why he's not on the Stiles and Drewe album. Sulk.
...moments of famous people : nearly trampled Clive Owen in the bar on the way to the stalls. Er. Whoops? I apologised, then saw who it was. Shorter than you'd think, and not quite as photogenic. Probably one of those people who are ridiculously photogenic and far more attractive when *acting*. Sort of the reverse of the actors who look considerably more angular on camera and are in fact ten times prettier in real life.