"Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare.

Your Chance Productions.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Shakespeare's most well known and best loved of his comedies becomes even more bonkers in this production.

It's the story of a shipwrecked pair of twins, Sebastian and Viola, and their involvement with the townsfolk of Illyria, a land where everyone is just a bit nutty, and the comical confusion caused by their introduction into the town. Various sub plots and storylines make this a Shakespearian version of a soap opera with the inclusion of several musical interludes.

Through the confusion of Viola, the female twin, masquerading as a male, Cesario and the rediscovery of the male twin, Sebastian, being the object of affection of Olivia who mistook Sebastian for Cesario (well they are twins), there was eventually a happy ending all round. Oh if Shakespeare were alive today he'd be writing pantos and soap scripts!

I guarantee that you'll know some of the well-known quotes from the play "If music be the food of love", "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em", but my favourite, " Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage". Shakespeare, a man way ahead of his time. 

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

Sebastian is played by Connor Thomas. After being pulled from the ocean by some stranger and mourning the loss of his drowned sister, Sebastian arrives in Illyria after a few months and is surprised to find a bunch of lunatics claiming to know him. Within 24 hours he's been challenged to a duel by some drunken idiot and proposed to by some beautiful maiden. Sounds like a typical Saturday night in Long Eaton!

Viola is played by Izzy Smith. After being shipwrecked, and mourning the loss of her brother, she decides to disguise herself as a man, Cesario, and go to work for Duke Orsino. She immediately gets tangled up in a love triangle with Orsino and Lady Olivia next door. She gets challenged to a duel by some idiotic fop and then some random pirate shows up claiming to know her!

Brooke Rampersaud plays Lady Olivia, who is mourning the loss of her father as well as her brother. She has sworn off men, but wait a minute, who's the dashing young man the Duke has sent to woo her? He may be slightly feminine, but he just seems to get her. No one's ever rejected her before so of course he won't will he? You wouldn't believe that this is Brooke's first Shakespearian role.

 Malvolio, Olivia's Steward, is played by Darren Taylor. Malvolio runs Olivia’s household as her senior servant, He secretly hopes to improve his social position and one day rule the household as Olivia’s husband. Malvolio insults several characters in the play, including Sir Toby, Feste and Maria who get their revenge by playing a trick to make him think Olivia loves him.

Samantha Badman is Maria, Olivia's Maid. Malvolio and Maria will never see eye to eye on anything and have very different ideas about how the house should be ran. Maria gets on well with Sir Toby and plans a clever trick against Malvolio which helps Sir Toby get revenge on Malvolio for insulting him. Samantha, by the way, must be one of the most prolific local actors in the area, and yet again delivers a wonderful performance. 

Antonio, played by Siôn Grace, found Sebastian half drowned on the shore and rescued him. He quickly grows fond of Sebastian and stays with him, even following him to Illyria despite knowing how dangerous this might be for him. Antonio was once in a sea battle against Orsino’s ships and knows he could be arrested for piracy if he is caught. Siôn is a new face to me, but looking at what he has done in the past shows that he has kept himself busy on stages all over the country, including in the home of the Bard himself.

Sir Toby Belch is played by Graham Buchanan. Belch is related to Olivia and lives in her house. He spends a lot of his time drunk and Olivia has little respect for him. Sir Toby has invited his friend Sir Andrew to stay and encourages Sir Andrew to think that Olivia wants to marry him. Sir Toby knows Olivia has no interest in Sir Andrew but the deception allows him to con money from Sir Andrew. Sir Toby resents being reprimanded for his drunken behaviour by Malvolio and, with Maria’s help, plays a cruel trick on Malvolio. Sir Toby, along with Sir Andrew bring the majority of the laughs to this Shakespearian rom-com. What fun Graham must be having in yet another brilliant character driven part for him.

Sir Andrew Aguecheek is played by Martin Weston. Andrew is visiting his friend Sir Toby and staying in Olivia’s house. He believes that Sir Toby is helping him in his bid to marry Olivia but Sir Toby is taking money from Sir Andrew and using him for entertainment.  

George Davis plays Duke Orsino, who is known for his persistence and his over dramatic nature. He's hopelessly in love with Lady Olivia but she seems unimpressed by anything he has to offer. Maybe he just needs to send someone new to plead his case? Maybe the dashing young Cesario whose unlike anyone else she's met could do the job? What could possibly go wrong?

Feste "The Fool" is played by Chantelle Ruston. Feste is a jester who used to work for Olivia’s father. He has returned to Olivia’s house after some time away and, although she is at first angry with him for his absence, she soon forgives him and is pleased to see him. Feste makes a living as a musician and from his witty remarks for both of which he receives money from characters of a higher social position. He seems to be based in Olivia’s house but also sings for Orsino.

Madeline Levy doubles up as Valentine and The Priest. Valentine is one of The Duke's attendants, along with Curio, and there's not much that this pair miss within Orsino's household!

Jeff Tullin also doubles roles as the Sea Captain and Curio.

All this cast look and sound like Shakespeare is their mother tongue. There's no awkwardness or stumbling over lines nor anything that might give any hint of this lot not being anything less than completely comfortable in their roles. They are all just so much fun to watch, and they make Shakespeare easy to follow, even for those who are not fans of old Shaky.

Directed by Jessica Morgan-McLean. What I enjoy about Shakespeare is that every Director has their own vision about how their production should look and sound like, and Jess has made a nutty play even more bonkers. It has great pace and there's almost a pantomime feel about it, especially with the over the top characters like Belch and Aguecheek. And, as with many Shakespeare's plays, you get so involved that the time simply flies by; always a good sign of a well performed piece of theatre.

The set is sourced by Phillipa Buchanan and is in three different sections but is a very simple design of a bench area, a chaise longue and Christmas tree - just to remind you that this is a Christmas play - and a table and chairs set up, mainly for Toby and Andrew to have somewhere to perch while drinking.

Sound and lighting is by Tom Bridges. There were mics at the front of the stage but the cast have really good projection, especially Graham, so they weren't really needed. I don't know if Tom was responsible for the playlist that was played before the start of the play and the interval, but the well known songs were performed in a style called "Bardcore", which really set the mood for the show.

There were even musical inserts throughout, mainly sung by Feste, which included classics like "Can't Help Falling In Love", "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)", "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" among the Bard bangers. 

The fight choreography is by Graham Buchanan.

The costumes are also great fun and look wonderful.

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.

"Twelfth Night" is at The Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton for just one more night, Tuesday 17 December.