Musical Mayhem and the Words of the Bard

Twelfth Night

Filter Theatre

Sherman Cymru, Theatre 1

1^st April 2014

For those not familiar with Twelfth Night the narrative is confusing enough; with cross-dressing, disguise and cunning tricks played throughout. Add to this Filter’s multi-roling and lack of solid storytelling and you are left with quite a challenge to decipher.

Despite this lack of clarity the incredibly talented ensemble of actors and musicians lift Shakespeare’s words into the 21^st century, dropping the formality and reminding us that the theatre is a place to be engaged and have fun! What other show would get the audience up on stage doing a conga line and passing around pizza?

Using their ‘sonic-architecture’ techniques Filter created an intelligent and invigorating musical backdrop for the action. This play is perfect for the modern minstrels, opening with the oft-quoted line ‘If music be the food of love, play on’. Not only did they perform the fool’s songs from the play but they also treated the audience to re-workings of dance-floor classics such as The Champ’s ‘Tequila’ – with a generous helping of lime and salt to accompany the shots.

The complete lack of set really drew attention to the musical apparatus and token props that the cast utilised to create their characters. Sarah Belcher as Viola/Sebastian even managed to create her costume from items donated by the more-than-willing audience.

This production is a great way to introduce people to live Shakespeare, especially those studying the text at school. The company made the show exciting and inclusive – something that is easy to forget when confronted with a Shakespeare study guide. The production is certainly unforgettable and not just because Malvolio’s yellow stockings made an appearance alongside some rather fetching gold hot-pants.

In an after-show talk the cast described the origins of the show as a ‘response’ to Shakespeare’s text rather than a re-telling of it and I think this is a perfect way to describe the madcap mayhem that took over the stage. Perfectly capturing the sense of chaos that lies under the Bard’s words the show (un)fortunately left coherence at the door. 

For more on Filter : www.filtertheatre.com