The Chichester Festival is entering its last few weeks and there’s still time to catch some of its main shows. I’ve already raved about the Macbeth which, while it’s sold out there, is coming to London. The same company is also doing Twelfth Night at the main theatre and it makes a very enjoyable evening.
Twelfth Night isn’t a particularly easy play. It’s meant to be a comedy (and bits of it are very funny indeed) but it has a serious side – the treatment of Malvolio leaves a nasty taste in the mouth – and it contains some of Shakespeare’s most beautiful writing about love. Philip Franks’s production seemed to stress the serious, melancholy side at the expense of some laughs. It looks good, set shortly after the First World War, and there’s a real sense of style. The ast – obviously enjoying a break from the gore of Macbeth – were uniformly excellent.
