Reviewed: Mar 8

Directed by Edward Hall and staged by the all-male British company Propeller, Twelfth Night is a fusion of tradition and modernity. It's traditional in that men play the female roles, as they did in Elizabethan times. It's contemporary because there's not one frilly collar (and only one pair of tights) in sight. It puts you in mind a little of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet.

One of the Bard's most popular comedies, Twelfth Night follows a set of twins - Viola (played by Tam Williams) and Sebastian (Joe Flynn) - who are separated after a shipwreck, each believing the other is dead.

Viola disguises herself as a boy and assumes the name Cesario, becoming a page to Duke Orsino (Jack Tarlton). Orsino is wooing Countess Olivia (Dugald Bruce-Lockhart), who refuses his hand because she's mourning the deaths of her father and brother. Cesario/Viola is sent to press Orsino's suit. Things get complicated when Olivia falls in love with Cesario/Viola, who is infatuated with the duke. Then Sebastian arrives on the scene - triggering a crescendo of comedy and confusion.

This is Shakespeare at his most entertaining, played by a superb cast. Williams, a man playing a woman playing a man, was especially convincing. That he and his on-stage twin, Flynn, look alike in their suits made the charade even more believable. Bruce-Lockhart's lustful Olivia was elegant and Tony Bell's Feste was both a witty and wise fool.

The scenes in which Olivia's steward Malvolio (Bob Barrett) is tricked and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Simon Scardifield) challenges Viola to a boxing match are classic.