A Twelfth Night that is true to its core
The RSC's production of Twelfth Night, at the Barbican, pitches it right, however you want to take it.
The title of William Shakespeare's 'comedy with an edge' relates to the festival of Twelfth Night, on 6 January, the traditional end of the festive season.
It is also the only Shakespeare play to be given an alternative or sub-title, What you will, which is thought to be an invitation to audiences to take from the play what they find within it.
Romantic comedy or something altogether darker and more perturbing.
When first performed in 1602, Londoners would have marked Twelfth Night with much ribald revelry, cruel japes and a penchant for cross dressing.
Shakespeare exploits all of these to blistering effect in his play, and this RSC production is likely nearer to what was first performed back then by his theatre troupe, The Company of Gentlemen.
As one of the Bards most performed plays, Twelfth Night is often served up as frivolous fun.
The RSC presents us with a production that, while still having humour flowing throughout, also has an undercurrent that is altogether more thought provoking.
Identical twins Viola (Gwyneth Keyworth) and Sebastian (Rhys Rusbatch) are shipwrecked, and while Viola is washed up safely on the shores of Illyria she fears her brother lost at sea.
Viola decides it in her best interest in this foreign land to disguise as a boy called Cesario and, in this role, she becomes a favourite in the service of Orsino (Daniel Monks) the Duke of Illyria.
Keeping up her masculine outward appearance does not stop Viola's female side get the better of her and she falls in love with her master the Duke.
To complicate the situation even more, Orsino then sends Cesario to woo the Countess Olivia (Freema Agyeman) on his behalf.
Low and behold, Olivia rejects Orsino's overtures but instead falls madly in love with his 'man' servant Cesario.
While this is being played out, we find Sebastian, who has been rescued by a sea captain, arriving on the scene and this only serves to exacerbate mistaken identities.
The plays subplot involves Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch, and his foppish acquaintance, Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
Rather than the corpulent, red cheeked, soused buffoon we find in many a production of Twelfth Night, Joplin Sibtain portrays Belch as a crude, hard drinking bore of a man (more Oliver Reed than Oliver Hardy) who is alone in believing his sexual innuendo amusing.
Malvolio, Olivia's steward, abhors this despicable fellow and his cronies.
So when Belch and Aguecheek trick Malvolio into thinking Olivia loves him, this is not done as a harmless jape, but by 'playground bullies' who delight in Malvolio's downfall.
It is this that provides greater emotional substance to the RSC's Twelfth Night that makes for a far more reflective audience experience.
It also allows Samuel West to give a memorable performance as Malvolio, taking the character from the 'strait-laced, stiff-collar' steward, to a helpless love struck Romeo and on into the depths of humiliation and despair.
Binding everything together is the excellent Michael Grady-Hall as Feste, the evocative fool and entertainer.
Self-imposed confidant to all, accomplice in the tricking of Malvolio and commentator on proceedings throughout, the fool also provides several insightful musical moments.
Needless-to-say, the whole ensemble deserve credit for a memorable evening in the theatre and a gem in the long line of exceptional productions from the RSC.
Twelfth Night runs at the Barbican until 17 January 2026 https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/royal-shakespeare-company-twelfth-night
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust offers a full synopsis of Twelfth Night :
https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/shakespedia/shakespeares-plays/twelfth-night/
The Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is one of the most famous and influential theatre companies in the world, dedicated to performing the works of William Shakespeare, his contemporaries and new writing.
The RSC will premier its productions in Stratford-upon-Avon, the town of Shakespeare's birth, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, the Swan Theatre or The Other Place.
Its productions will then regularly transfer to London and go on tour in the UK and Ireland and internationally.
The Barbican Theatre
The Barbican Centre in London is the largest performing arts centre of its kind in Europe.
The 800 seat Barbican Theatre is one of the finest of London's theatres offering uninstructed viewing, excellent acoustics and very comfortable seating.
In addition to theatre productions, the Barbican stages classical and contemporary music concerts, film screenings and art exhibitions.
There are three restaurants and a conservatory.
