Twelfth Night

Ah!  It was so fantastic!  Today, as you probably know, I went to the Shakespeare festival in the park, which consisted of the Elizabethan music, and Romeo and Juliet comedy spoof and the full performance of Twelfth Night as portrayed by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble and directed by Michael Forde.

I was a bit put off at first by the glaring heat and bad vision during Romeo and Juliet, but before Twelfth Night began, we moved up into the very front so we were less than five metres from the stage.  We had our ice tea and M&Ms all ready, and we stretched out our legs, took off our shoes and reapplyed our sunscreen. 

It was absolutely enchanting!  Fully proffessional and brilliantly acted, a story I was previously so unfamiliar with was brought out in all its glory.  The actors were absolutely superb, Feste and Malvolio especially so.  At times I nearly cried with laughter because of how fantastically they portrayed these characters. 

Feste, (played by Sandro Colarelli), was hilarious with his amazingly Looney-Tunes-like Spanish impersonation and his gorgeous performance of the several original songs that dotted the play.

Feste's Song

Feste posing as the priest, Topaz

Then, my other favourite, Malvolio, played by Eugene Gilfedder.  If you haven't read or seen the play, do!  His character is at once so hilarious and pompous, gullible and silly, but endearing for all his act of being the only serious and mature steward in Olivia's service.

Malvolio scolding the drunken Sir Toby, Aguecheek and Fabian

Malvolio reading Maria's letter, written in Olivia's hand as a prank

Malvolio wearing cross-gartered yellow stockings and smiling to please Olivia

Then there was Sir Andrew Aguecheek, (played by Kynan Francis), who I couldn't help thinking looked scarily like Lucas Grabeel as Ryan in High School Musical.  He was hilarious, idiotic and really good at being drunk.

The drunk Aguecheek with Feste

Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Sir Toby Belch

I also thought I'd add a handful of the better photos to give you a general idea.

The duel between Sir Toby and Antonio

Aguecheek, Sir Toby, Feste and Maria contriving their prank against Malvolio

Feste's closing song with the whole cast

The Bow

We also managed to sneak some photos with the Eugene Gilfedder after the show. 

In case it's of interest, here is the cast list. 

MALVOLIO - Eugene Gilfedder
MARIA - Barbara Lowing
FESTE - Sandro Colarelli
VIOLA - Kathryn Fray
OLIVIA - Anna Mowry
TOBY BELCH - Toss Levi
SIR ANDREW AGUECHEEK - Kynan Francic
ORSINO - Michael Sams
SEBASTIAN - Daniel Grey
FABIAN - Tony Brockman
ANTONIO - Vanja Matula
CURIO - Aleathea Monsour

Well, that was an absolutely wonderful performance, and unexpectedly hilarious!  It was well worth every second!