BROMSGROVE-based MadCap Theatre Productions is becoming renowned all over the UK for doing just that – producing madcap theatre.
And the group was at it again at the Birmingham MAC with its version of Shakespeare’s farce Twelfth Night.
The pace of the production was so fast – literally as one character exited another one entered – and the amount of energy displayed on stage, particularly on such a warm night and in such elaborate costume, was incredible.
There were some stunning performances throughout the evening, including Sam Patrick as drunkard Sir Toby Belch, Fabian played by Nick Baldock and Robert Moore as the over-the-top Sir Andrew Arguecheek who was a firm favourite with the audience, along with his very camp mannerisms and excited behaviour.
The chemistry between those three was seamless and on the stage the characters looked like they had been friends for a lifetime.
Oisin Porter was fantastic as Feste in his first outing with the group and the character’s humorous songs generated plenty of mirth and merriment both on the stage and off it.
Alan Wales achieved both laughs and sympathy from the audience as Malvolio who is the subject of a practical joke in which he thinks he’s received a letter from Olivia declaring her love for him.
The scene where he read the correspondence from her and the subsequent follow-up when he approached he in his yellow stockings and cross garters both produced plenty of hilarity.
The sword fight between Sir Andrew and Viola (Emmeline Braefield) who it is thought is a servant boy also had the audience in hysterics with both reluctant to take part in a duel they had been duped into by some more trickery.
The scene changes were very clever, with the actors casually altering the stage boards and props as they came on and off.
That was a masterstroke by director Emma Leigh who also showed her versatility, giving a good performance as Maria. The scene involving her, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew early on – which involved plenty of double entendre and innuendo – set the scene for the rest of the play.
You don’t realise how many of The Bard’s famous lines are in Twelfth Night and you could see the audience mouthing them as they came up.
Overall this was an amazing performance of an equally amazing show and the cast, after the grande finale song, justifiably received rapturous applause.
The show comes to Bromsgrove’s Artrix at 7.30pm on August 9, with tickets, at £12 (£10 concessions), available at www.artrix.co.uk or by calling 01527 577330.
