Review: Twelfth Night – Red Rose Chain, Rendlesham Forest

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside, and in Red Rose Chain’s delightfully inventive Twelfth Night, the seaside has been brought into the heart of Rendlesham Forest.

In what is now their twelfth annual summer residency in the forest, what else could the company stage but Shakespeare’s comic masterpiece?

The forest clearing has been transformed into a beachside playground, a giant sand pit complete with two beach huts, a washed up fishing boat and a Punch and Judy pavilion. Against this colourful and inventive backdrop, the tale of shipwrecked twins, lovelorn rulers and mischievous servants is played out with a breathless energy. It’s a vibrant, multi-coloured world, reminiscent of the saucy seaside postcard world of artist Donald McGill.

With only a cast of eight, director Joanna Carrick has cleverly doubled characters without losing dramatic drive. Her script adaptation, with David Newborn, also reduces the text to provide an accessible introduction to the piece but without losing the wit and wonder of Shakespeare’s original. There are some ingenious ways around the small size cast – the residents of Illyria portrayed by seagulls while the sea Captain Antonio is portrayed by a scene stealing puppet dog.

Inventiveness and humour are the two cornerstones of this production. No attempt is made to conceal the surreal nature of the plot and the piece is played for full comic potential. From the now trademark pre show engagement with their audience, through two and a half hours the company don’t miss a single beat in wringing every drop of humour out of the story. Music, slapstick, visual delights and clowning all make for a side-splitting Twelfth Night.

There are strong performances from the entire company, coping admirably with the challenges of open air performances and the odd battle with passing aircraft. Among a universally strong cast there are stand out performances from Christopher Ashman as the effeminate, blond wigged, panto horse riding Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Ashman also doubling as a vain, self centred Duke Orsino), Owen Mogan’s guitar wielding Feste serenading a member of the audience and Fleur Keith’s transformation from grieving daughter and sister to a brazenly lustful Oliver.

Standout performance however of the evening has to be Edward Day’s Malvolio, a delicious creation of flailing limbs and outraged utterances. Malvolio’s downfall is a scene of pure comic delight, his betrayal featuring yellow striped Lycra and a rendition of Donovan’s Mellow Yellow, while his descent into apparent madness in custody transformed into a Punch & Judy show.

Jimmy Grimes’ set and Gemma Rushbrook’s costume designs provide an injection of Technicolor to more than match the outrageous colourful behaviour on stage.

Purists may flinch at the idea of such an overtly over the top production but when one remembers that Shakespeare wrote his plays to provide popular entertainment to the masses, rather than for scholarly debate, it seems wholly appropriate. Give such a fresh and imaginative production, one can only envy those in the audience who are seeing Twelfth Night for the very first time. This is the perfect introduction to Shakespeare and young and old would be hard pressed to find a more delightful staging of Twelfth Night anywhere in the country.

Twelfth Night ends with a song including the line – ‘For the rain it raineth every day’, lets just keep fingers crossed that Red Rose Chain haven’t tempted fate for their summer in the forest but come rain or shine this is one production that will brighten any theatre goers heart.