“A few shining moments in this production come when Sir Toby Belch, Maria and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (played by Keith Agius, Amy Hack & Mike Howlett) are together on stage making mischief.“
Alana Kaye
2.5. /5 Stars
Sydney Opera House
To 19th November 2023
Life is all about choices, isn’t it? We choose what we’re going to wear in the morning, we choose which restaurant to dine at for dinner, and we choose to go to the theatre for a bit of escapism. Whether we will live to regret those choices only time will tell.
And then there’s Bell Shakespeare, coming in hot with some questionable choices in their latest production of Twelfth Night at the Sydney Opera House.
The first of these questionable choices was choosing to swap the genders of Viola and Sebastian – but only AFTER Viola had been introduced to us played by actor Isabel Burton (she/her). It was only when Viola goes off to disguise herself that the character comes back on played by actor Alfie Gledhill (he/him). For the rest of the show, the role of Viola/Cesario was then played by a male actor, pretending to be a female character playing a man. WHAT?
Director Heather Fairbairn says that her production is “an exploration of gender and sexuality”, which is of course a valid choice, especially when it comes to modernising works by old white men. In her director’s note in the program, Fairbairn justifies this choice by saying that she “set out to reinstate the dramaturgical effect of an all-male cast without having an all-male cast.” I am asking why, for all that is holy, would you take away one of the very few fantastic Shakespearean roles for women and give it to a man? Especially when it affects the plot, makes what are supposed to be tender moments funny for the wrong reasons (because Gledhill’s performance of a woman trying to be a man was insipid and cringeworthy) and causes the love stories to be completely lost? We’re not in the Elizabethan era any more – women are allowed on stage and should be given the spotlight.
One choice of Fairbairn’s that did work was the gender swap of Malvolio to Malvolia. Why did this work? Because it didn’t affect the plot, and allowed a meaty role to be played by a woman. (Perhaps Fairbairn thought this balanced out making Viola a man?) As Malvolia, Jane Montgomery Griffiths shone, despite the hugely questionable garb she had to don for her “yellow stockings, and cross-gartered” outfit. Wowsers, was that a choice indeed. There was palpable and audible disgust around me on opening night when the reveal happened, including the subsequent manhandling and imprisonment of Malvolia.
A few shining moments in this production come when Sir Toby Belch, Maria and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (played by Keith Agius, Amy Hack & Mike Howlett) are together on stage making mischief. The energy of these three lifted the energy of the whole show and garnered some well-earned laughs. The original music from Sarah Blasko added a nice dimension to the production, and was performed beautifully by Tomáš Kantor as the character of Feste.
I may be outnumbered in this opinion, but given the choice, I wouldn’t see this production again
Alana Kaye, Theatre Now
