Shipwrecked twins Viola and Sebastian (and how often can you find actors who look even vaguely alike?) stir up the eccentric community into which they are pitched.

Melisa Ramadan's talented Viola sparkles in her boy-girl disguise, keeping the plot momentum moving. She beguiles the languid Duke Orsino (Tom Holloway) who even manages to avoid noticing that his new page's manhood is only a matter of trouser padding.

Sebastian (Tom Harthill) has rather less to say than his sister, but seduces the lively Olivia (Louisa Theobald), the previous object of Orsino's fantasies, convincingly, and ably supports the twin illusion.

The cross-gender fantasies of love, bolstered by plenty of wishful thinking, really romp with the supporting characters.

The dim-witted Sir Andrew Aguecheek, using a parking cone as a comfort blanket, is well-matched with Sir Toby Belch as a drunken groper.

Vincent Gaine and John Hare are a comedy act unto themselves in these roles, letting rip with their goading of Malvolio.

Sam Heydon illuminates him as an unimaginative man suddenly convinced of his own sex appeal and his glamorous yellow stockings. Never an easy role to sustain, his sensitive interpretation rescues some dignity for this classic buffoon.

The musicians play patiently onstage throughout, nourishing the love growing before their eyes. Ross McGregor's direction clarifies the plot and reaches both the comic and dark aspects of this marvellous play in thoughtful detail.

Black Ram's new production of Northanger Abbey, on tour in the Spring, should not be missed.


©Mary Dunk. February 2009.