Review: Twelfth Night - The Pantaloons

Review by Ray Tempesta

Hugely entertaining stuff from The Pantaloons as their touring production of Twelfth Night hit the stage at Norwich Theatre Playhouse.

They were in playful mode from the moment the punters started to fill the auditorium, delighting us with a silly song about their tour, and this sense of whimsy never let up throughout the show.

Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's best comedies already of course, but this adaptation by Mark Hayward saw the four strong company extract even more humour from the venerated text. Whether that was playing up the need to multi role, make lightning fast costume changes, affecting silly voices/accents, or simply injecting some good old physical comedy for good measure too, the delightful team were on top form.

Everyone is playing Feste - image courtesy of The Pantaloons

Appropriately too, given the iconic line "if music be the food of love, play on", music played a key part of their show, with each of the cast reaching for a guitar or ukulele at various times.

Sam Gibbons was clearly most at home with a guitar in hand, and he led from the front vocally too with his warm, rich tones. His comedy duo as Sir Toby to Elizabeth Bell's Sir Andrew was a particular highlight of the show.

Holly Durkin was as equally delightful as the disguised Viola as she was as the scheming Scottish servant Maria. Jonny Wiles was exceptional, with his impressive ability to effortlessly switch between high comedy and dramatic, classic 'Shakespearean' delivery.

The Pantaloons' Twelfth Night continues its UK tour until 11 October, taking in a number of venues in East Anglia along the way.