"Twelfth Night" by Much Ado About Theatre.
The White Lion, Beeston, Nottingham.

Shakespeare in the open air as part of their local tour, but what happens when it rains?

You put up a gazebo!

What happens if the gazebo is too small for all the people who want to see this production?

You move the production indoors!

Simples, well for us, the audience, but this can cause a multitude of problems performance wise for the actors and crew. Not that you'd have noticed because thinking on your feet and going with the flow is something that this theatre company seem to have a natural ability to do. they moved everything to the pub's upstairs room and performed their production in the round.

"Twelfth Night" or "What You Will" is a Shakespeare comedy, believed to have been written as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised as Cesario) falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with the Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man.

This cast really take the advantage of making all of the characters very animated, especially Sir Toby Belch, and really shows the cartoonish comedy in Shakespeare's writings, cementing his talent for the absurd.

I've never seen this theatre company before but a few of the cast I had seen before, so straight away knew that I was in for a good performance.

Shakespeare is one of those playwrights that a director and cast can have fun with. Adding bits in and omitting others, making sure that the performance is different to any other production you've seen before. Who would have imagined that "Is This The Way To Amarillo" would be part of one of the Bard's plays?

The cast is very strong, and obviously know each other's strengths, and trust the other actor when ad libbing some parts, which keep Shakespeare fresh and enjoyable over 400 years after they were written.

Peter Radford (Orsino), Chloe Crump (Viola/Cesario), Abi Moore (Olivia), Konrad Skubis (Sebastian/Valentine), Jennifer Reckless (Maria), James Parnham (Sir Toby Belch), Hannah Breedon (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Tori Hope (Antonio), Matthew Hammonds (Feste/Officer) and Nick Parvin(Malvolio/Sea Captain), acted and reacted their socks - or is that stockings - off.

The enthusiasm for what they do is obvious and infectious and they have no qualms about involving members of the audience in their act, showing confidence in their audience's affection for the play and the production company.

The comedy came thick and fast, not just in Shakespeare's words, but also in the physicality of the production; sections of which bordered on slapstick.

Performing in non theatre based surroundings also make it fun and accessible for everyone, and I love the clever way they break down the barriers many people have with Shakespeare by adding the fun and twists to their show.

Looking at the eye catching poster and programme,designed by Chloe Crump, it gave an incite to the cartoony element of the production.

I must also commend the wonderful costumes, supplied by CNR Services Ltd.

A wonderful and fun production which only provides proof that Shakespeare's plays are still popular, as well as great entertainment, for all ages today. And a cast that performs with such ease the words of the Master, will ever keep his plays alive and most definitely kicking.

For more information about this theatre group, please visithttps://www.muchadoabouttheatre.com/