The English Department visited the Globe to see Sean Holmes’ stunning production of Twelfth Night which Year 12 and Year 14 are studying asan A level text. Whilst most of us think of thismid-winter, festive play as glowing with ‘warmth and sunshine’, this production refused to shy away from its darker undertones and afforded the students an excellent opportunity to appreciate Twelfth Night’s tonal complexity. The carcass of a hunted hart hung from the canopy throughout, dripping blood into a bucket, brilliantly capturing Orsino’s disturbingly aggressive determination to hunt down the heart/hart of Olivia. It also enabled Sir Toby to coat his face in blood, visually underlining the sheer brutality of his gulling of Malvolio, promising that he will ‘fool him black and blue’. However, cutting through all this was the joyousspectacle of Malvolio cross-gartered in a full yellow Lycra bodysuit. It’s always the comic highlight of the play and we were not disappointed! We will return to the Globe’s Sam Wanamaker theatre in the new year, so that all the students who are studying The Duchess of Malfi can experience a replica Jacobean indoor theatre of exactly the kind in which Malfi was first performed.
Twelfth Night at the Globe
