Building on their brilliant run at Bedlam Theatre in February, Malvolio’s Fantasy, directed by Zuza Soltykowska and Isabella Olsen-Barone, arrived en force at the Fringe. In this ingenious reworking of Shakespeare’s classic, the heteronormative and class-restricted confines of Elizabethan England are reworked into a much more modern tale of love and desire.
Filled with hysterical dancing, expressive music and rich costume designs, it’s a must- see show. Shipwrecked on the shores of Illyria, Viola’s (Isabella Velarde) disguise as a man named Cesario leads her to serve the feisty (and flamboyant!) Duke Orsino (Aodhán Mallon), setting in motion a chain of events culminating in the manifestation of Malvolio’s fantasy of greatness.
Lady Olivia’s (Rebecca Morgan) revulsion at the universal failings of men is confirmed when
she discovers Viola beneath her masculine disguise. She determines to love her in her own right, designing a plot to satiate Orsino, transforming Malvolio into Cesario to woo him. Orsino’s half-hearted attempts to win Lady Olivia are quickly abandoned when presented with such masculine manifestation of his desires. For Malvolio, this means status and glory beyond servitude, leaving Olivia free and both couples complete. One might expect the plot to falter without twin Sebastian coming to the rescue, but Malvolio’s Fantasy leads so naturally to its reworked conclusion it becomes hard to remember Shakespeare’s original plot.
The uproarious humour of the show is boundless; quips with moustaches, scented candles, sensational dancing, especially from the fabulous duo Andrew Aguecheek (Lucien Ngai) and serving lady Carmen Acosta (Isabella Olsen-Barone), left the audience in hysterics, with many rounds of applause.
But beyond such hilarity there lies a very powerful message. As both pairs of gay lovers share passionate onstage kisses, there is a compelling sense of the infinite possibilities of such love, within theatre and real-life too, that simply was not possible for so much of Twelfth Night’s four hundred years. Yes, Malvolio’s Fantasy is witty and fun, but it is also a very beautiful exploration of love breaking boundaries with great passion, and – of course– great pride.
Image courtesy of Bedlam Theatre