Review Theatre: Twelfth Night | Tricyle Theatre | Iggy meets the Bard for a night of ‘jazz improv’

Publications by New Journal Enterprises

Home

Archive

Competition

The Review - THEATRE by SARA NEWMAN
Published: 4 September 2008

Iggy meets the Bard for a night of ‘jazz improv’

REVIEW: TWELFTH NIGHT
Tricyle Theatre

SHAKESPEARE’S tale of same sex attraction and gender bending has worn many hats over the years: in the hands of the theatre collective Filter, it becomes a riotous contemporary jazz and blues jamming session.
The stage is a tangle of cables, amps, instruments and props.
The actors, like their classically trained musicians Tom Haines and Ross Hugh, are prone to improvisation. They speak Shakespearean, though not necessarily from Twelfth Night.
Shipwrecked Viola (Poppy Miller) borrows clothes and a pair of socks to become Cesario, while the genuinely intoxicated Oliver Dimsdale is the rowdy, sponging Sir Toby Belch. He is given licence to show up at any point in the performance, make up his lines and bring in lines from other
Shakespeare plays.
Stumbling about the stage he downs beer and serenades the
audience, enticing us to join in his rendition of ‘What is love?’ before rewarding us with
pizza. By the time countess Olivia’s strait-laced head servant Malvolio (Ferdy Roberts) reprimands the crowd for engaging in such mindless revelry, we all deserve the telling-off.
His demise comes in the form of a letter, apparently from Olivia, instructing him to wear nothing but yellow stockings and a smile, as if he were the rock-god Iggy Pop himself.
In the space of 80 minutes this innovative production brings together the crossover music scene, performance art and theatrical tradition with energy and expertise.
Until September 27
020 7328 1000

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment:

» A-Z of Theatre
» Local Reviews
» Local Listings
» West End Reviews
» West End Listings
» Theatre Tickets
» Theatre & Hotel Packages