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Twelfth Night, Bournemouth Shakespeare Players, Priory Gardens, Christchurch.

A stone arch and roses flanked by grey seats and three little trees effectively form the simple set of Kevin Dicker’s seamless production.

After a slow start with sombre Orsino (David Jackman) slightly less than ducal, the arrival of the below-stairs crew lights up the stage. Admirably played Sirs Toby Belch (Chaz Davenport) and Andrew Aguecheek (Paul Marcus) are encouraged in their knavery by Dawn Hollington’s bouncy Maria.

Haughty Malvolio (Simon Merideth), the butt of their plotting, is not particularly amazed by the spurious letter from the Lady Olivia but his efforts to smile and later adopt yellow-stockinged cross-gartering are fine. Natalie Arkell’s Olivia slips gracefully from mournfulness to coquettishness while Viola (Yvonne Henley) spoke beautiful poetry; twinship with her brother Sebastian (Ralph Gillam) is credible.

The keynote of the production is fun: the gulling of Malvolio, the amorous advances of Olivia to Cesaro/Viola, the reluctant sword fight, the clowning of the knights. A darker note creeps in with Malvolio’s imprisonment (below the eye-line of many spectators) while Feste’s sad songs sung by Ryan Gregg in his jester’s coat of many colours are delightful.

The production is a happy juxtaposition of romance and bawdy in the magical twilight of the gardens.

Margaret Franklin.

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