I went to watch ‘First Encounters: Twelfth Night’ at Springhead First School on the 3rd of November. Though I was originally quite apprehensive about watching yet another interpretation of ‘Twelfth Night’ by William Shakespeare, I am happy to say that my expectations were exceeded. The play was condensed into 90 minutes whilst still managing to successfully maintain the original story. Being a travelling act: visiting and performing in different first schools throughout the country, I was extremely impressed with how they were able to create such a wonderful and immersive show with so little set and almost no lighting at all. As an audience we remained constantly engaged and it was clear from the continuous stream of laughter that we enjoyed ourselves. The characterisation was hilarious and on point throughout the whole show, made even better in the way the actors were unafraid to improvise at any point and flip fluidly from shakespearian to modern day language. I was found the inclusion of school children within their play delightful, as it is not something I have seen done many times before. The children performed amazingly and I can imagine this show will influence them greatly and possibly even spark a love for drama and creative arts. Though i loved the play, i can certainly fault the seating: as you can imagine, school PE benches are not the most comfortable arrangement.
'First Encounters: Twelfth Night'
My review of the 90 minutes interpretation of Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' performed by The Royal Shakespeare Company.
Great that even though you know the story and perhaps have seen it many times, that it was still engaging and enjoyable. Different interpretations and adaptations can be inspiring in a variety of ways...although I don't envy you sitting on school PE benches throughout!