The Royal Shakespeare Company presents Twelfth Night this winter season, and although the title might sound particularly festive, the Shakespearean comedy contains its fair share of thought-provoking moments, and bittersweet contemplation is sat snugly beside roars of laughter. 

Duke Orsino (Bally Gill), who in this production surrounded by uniformed men who dance to love songs together, is attempting to woo Olivia, played by Freema Agyeman, residing with her uptight steward Malvolio (Samuel West). Orsino sends his newly appointed page boy Cesario with messages for Olivia - nobody suspects that Cesario is in fact Viola, played by Gwyneth Keyworth, who has disguised herself as her own twin brother, after being shipwrecked on hostile foreign soil. 

The stage is now set for a lighthearted love story farce, but Twelfth Night has darker undercurrents which cast a shadow over proceedings. In an unusual premise for a comedy, Olivia is in mourning for both her father and brother. Prasanna Puwanarajah’s direction never lets the audience forget this sombre backdrop, in spite of the silliness and hijinx that make up the play. 

Perhaps the play’s most memorable feature concerns stuffy Malvolio, who is unpopular with almost everyone in Olivia’s household, as he is tricked into humiliating himself via a pair of yellow stockings - available for purchase in the foyer, the perfect gift for your favourite Shakespeare buff. Samuel West’s Malvolio is the perfect mixture of pompous and dry.

The cast as a whole are excellent, in particular Michael Grady-Hall as Olivia’s Jester, Feste. He has one foot in the reality of the play, and the other knowingly planted alongside the audience - he engineers strange and surreal occurrences, through clowning and visual comedy. He also has a great voice - opening the (very musical) production with a song, sung suspended from the ceiling. 

Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s uncle, is played by Joplin Sibtain, and it is clear in this production that Toby, like Olivia, is grief-stricken - he has a great deal of anger and sadness bubbling beneath his comical exterior. The cohort of boozy mischief makers who enact their revenge on Malvolio, alongside Feste and Sir Toby, is completed by Maria (Danielle Henry) who masterminds the whole business, the air-headed Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Demetri Goritsas) and Fabian (Daniel Millar) - a member of Olivia’s household who mirrors Feste in comic antics, but on several occasions draws his companions back before they go too far. 

The music, composed by Matt Maltese, is in equal parts sublime and ridiculous - signified by the enormous church organ at Olivia’s house, which fills the whole stage - and there are plenty of opportunities to laugh, which offsets the intentionally gloomy set design by James Cotterill. Whether you are ready to be warmed by a tangled love story or a glass (or more) of wine, this is the perfect play for the bleak midwinter.

Five Stars

Twelfth Night was reviewed on Friday 20 December by Jessica Clixby at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, where it plays until Saturday 18 January