As a special treat to celebrate my 40th birthday, we went out in London to see a play. I selected a comedy by William Shakespeare called Twelfth Night.
This production was presented by the Donmar West End Company at the Wyndham Theatre. It starred many excellent actors and actresses. A person in the cast you may recognize is Mr. Derek Jacobi who played Malvolio. He was the emperor Claudius in “I Claudius” (I highly recommend watching this series). He is also well known from the Cadfael mystery series. He's been in dozens of movies including Branagh's version of Hamlet and The Day of the Jackel.
I was torn on whether I should read the play before watching it. On one hand I was concerned I wouldn't be able to keep up with the language or get lost and confused, but on the other hand I wanted to be just as open to the story as surprised by plot twists as any person who watched it on the first day it was presented in 1602. In the end, I decided that I wanted to feel like an original audience member. It turned out great, I needn’t have worried at all! The presentation and the actors were so superb in delivery and gesture that both Brooke and I always knew what was going on and were laughing with the jokes. Some of the jokes in the play are very bawdy indeed. I was delighted and surprised by this. The staging of the play was great, and the costumes, rather than being Elizabethan in design were closer to the early 1900’s and it totally worked. The set design was very simple and allowed the actors shine above it all.
It is hard to pick any one thing to praise above the rest, but I will try. I'd say that it was quality of the comedic acting that was stood out the most. Derek Jacobi as Malvolio prancing out in his yellow socks and short pants, smug as he pleased, trying to woo the fair Olivia was a riot. Also the two actors who played Sir Toby (Ron Cook) and Sir Andrew (Guy Henry) were hilarious as the drunken friends who set the schemes in motion. Zubin Varla played Festes the fool (the wisest among them all). He sang, played the guitar and drum, he is both an excellent actor AND musician. I'm embarassed to say that it never occurred to me before seeing this play that an entire character’s lines in a Shakespeare play should delivered almost exclusively in song. Mark Bonnar played the tortured lovesick Orsinio, a “heavy” amid the comedians. The three ladies who played the female roles were all beautiful and awesome actresses. Victoria Hamilton played Viola, who got to be a girl playing a boy in love with a boy but being pursued by a girl. Samantha Spiro played Maria and did an excellent job, holding her own as a comedienne amid the hilarious Sirs Toby and Andrew. Finally, Indira Varma was great as Olivia--her role requiring grief, anger, allure, confusion, love and comedy all within a very short time. Wow!
We had great seats located in the “royal circle” and could see the stage and actors very well.
The tickets were very reasonable and not much different in price than seeing a show in Las Vegas (as a comparison). After the play, we took the Tube back to our neighborhood and ate a late meal at a local Persian restaurant. Brooke had kebabs and rice and I had stewed chicken in pomegranate sauce with rice (a dish my friend Kia introduced me to). It was an excellent end to a wonderful day. After filling our bellies, we walked home and fell fast asleep.
I had a terrific birthday. I could never have imagined such a great day seeing so many amazing things. I know am very blessed to have such a wonderful partner in Brooke who travelled with me over two thousand miles to see all of these marvels and give me an extra special day. I feel like each year my life just gets better and better.
I’m the luckiest girl in the world. :-)
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