Review: Twelfth Night at The Royal Botanical Gardens

Review by Greg Gorton

The Australian Shakespeare Company regularly puts on Shakespeare plays in beautiful gardens in Melbourne, and it's a personal embarrassment that this was the first time I attended. Set up for a beautiful night picnic in front of a gorgeous stage, I wasn’t aware I was in for one of the most important types of Shakespearean production out there - the one that makes people like Shakespeare.

For all the beauty and hilarity of the bard’s rom-coms, it takes a certain amount of skill for a company to visually translate a play like Twelfth Night for a modern audience. The ASC truly excelled at this, as the laughter coming from the children of the audience proved.

The set for the ASC staging of Twelfth Night is, generally, quite beautiful, with flowery vines hanging over the walls of a beautiful castle. While the additional set dressing may have converted for some visual jokes that many enjoyed, they did stand out as a lower-quality appearance, and I’m not convinced those jokes were worth the hit to the aesthetics. The lighting, especially as you consider it used during the changing dusk, was perfect. The music was quite fun, and the creative liberties taken with the original text, and the existence of Alex Cooper’s Feste as a rock bard was brilliant. One of the highlights of the night was definitely having the audience get involved in a sing and dance along.

The comedy in this production is mostly brilliant. Director Glenn Elston has such a strong understanding of the humour in Shakespeare’s text, and the actors had amazing comic timing. The tone is set early with a rousing rendition of “The Twelve Nights of Christmas”, which is a great introduction to all the characters, and the production takes Shakespeare’s metatheatrical humour to the next level.

While Jackson McGovern’s Sir Toby was a fan favourite as a drunken fool, I was most impressed by the perfect timing and subtle expressions of Maddie Somers’ Maria. This version of Twelfth Night takes what are generally seen as B Plots and extends them, finding every way possible to make us laugh. Classic slapstick exists alongside modern satire, the “traditional Shakespearean” outfits are complemented with high vis vests as needed, and callback humour is rampant.

There are times when the show doesn’t trust the bard enough, and not all of the added comedy is required, you cannot fault any of the modern interpretations of the text itself.

While the sillier comedy of the grand classic rom-com was enhanced, the romantic side felt like it had far less attention devoted to it. While you cannot fault the acting of Elizabeth Brennan or Nicole Nabout, both Viola and Olivia appeared quite underdeveloped as interpretations of the characters. It’s obvious how Viola is playing up “being a man”, but the chemistry between the two ladies was never convincing, and their scenes very much appeared like afterthoughts to the show. 

It is admittedly difficult to deal with a comedic plot that primarily hinges itself on strict gender roles and expectations, but the mixed feelings of Hugh Sexton’s Orsino were both funnier and more believable on stage. 

As it was my first time, and might be yours too, a short note should be made about attending any ASC production in the beautiful Botanical gardens. While “the show must go on”, and light rain will not stop a production, I was blown away by how well the ushers and staff take care of the audiences while there, how much space is offered for you to picnic while having a close, clear view of the show, and how much of a community atmosphere there is on these nights. So not only is this show itself a great way to introduce your family to William Shakespeare, the night out itself is a wonderful family event.

Sadly, we still live in a world where all our teenagers are afflicted with learning Shakespeare. If you want them to not hate it, catch the little ones much earlier and drag them to something like ASC’s Twelfth Night. When you already know that Shakespeare is hilarious, you’ll be more likely to give him a chance.

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