Last night near the end of the performance as I was stalking across the stage towards Nicky (Viola) I slip on something particularly slimy, undoubtedly the residue from a previous Belch and Aguecheek scene and nearly ended up on my backside. I let out a huge high-pitched squeal and somehow managed to regain my footing using manoeuvres that wouldn’t seem out of place on the high beam in a gymnastics competition. As the audience howled with laughter I somehow managed to remain in character and even gave the audience a cheeky little look before carrying on as if nothing had happened. I’m sure it was the biggest laugh I had that night!
In other news we had a fab review in the Derby Evening Telegraph and here it is:
Over the past few weeks, Derby’s Guildhall theatre seems to have seen more Shakespeare than The Globe in London.
Following on from Derby Live’s professional production of Much Ado About Nothing, this week we get Derby Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. And if ever there were an example of the imperceptible differences between professional and amateur, we have it here at it’s finest.
As usual, Mr Shakespeare manages to string together a decent story with all of his normal plot devices, including mistake identities and women dressed up as men, but this ensemble cast manages to get as much emotion, pathos and humour from the tale as possible.
Lisa Kelly shines as the countess Olivia, who falls for the charms of Cesario, the disguised, shipwrecked Viola (Nicky Beards), who in turn falls for the handsome Duke Orsino (Colin Dawes).
Matthews Shepherd and Swan create a fine comedy double act as the scheming and drinking Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek and Christopher Scott almost steals the whole show as Malvolio, Olivia’s manservant. When you can make an audience laugh with subtle facial nuances and, in a trice, play broad comedy to equally strong effect, then you know you have an ace in the deck.
Director Caroline Reader has set this production in Victorian Paris, but the open master-of-ceremonies’ speech, delivered, with aplomb by Alan Smith, seems to sit uneasily in that context. At other points, though, the music choices and live songs convey a sense of purpose and add much to the drunken songstress character of Feste, played by Irene Button.
This is another quality piece of work from one of the city’s prized amateur dramatic companies.
(Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)