An evening of fresh ideas on how to stage Shakespeare but mainly a lot of fun, Filter’s performance of Twelfth Night was brilliantly done. It is always a challenge to make Shakespeare relevant and genuinely interesting for a modern audience, but that does not mean it cannot be done. There are many ways to do this, since Shakespeare’s work allows an almost infinite amount of interpretations, but Filter’s approach was particularly appealing and effective. Filter is a young theatre collective from
When the audience entered the venue the players were already on the stage. The stage and the seating area were lit and the lights remained on, unchanged, throughout the performance. The stage was occupied with musical instruments, wires, and amplifiers - it seemed that the event was going to be a rock concert rather than a play.
The performance started when one of the players introduced the cast and gave an introduction of the story. The audience was encouraged to ask questions if they didn’t understand. Then the company started playing. I specifically call it ‘playing’ because that was what the entire performance was like: actors or people at play, rather than actors performing a play. Another distinguishing characteristic was how music played a very important part in the performance. Many of the scenes were illustrated with a musical score; some instrumental, some with lyrics based on Shakespeare’s text.
The whole performance was geared towards creating a very casual atmosphere. With the exception of the actor who played the part of Sir Toby Belch, none of the actors wore an obvious costume. Instead, the actors wore every day clothes: jeans, t-shirts, and Converse All Star shoes. Most of the actors remained on stage throughout the performance; there was little done to create an illusion of reality. Most of the scenes were simply played more in front of the stage, while the other actors looked on, interacting with each other as well as with the audience on some occasions.
Another way of reducing the divide between players and audience was the audience being encouraged to participate. When Viola decides to dress up as a man so that she can work for Count Orsino (the awkwardness of this plot-device is stressed by the players), she asks an audience member for a coat and a hat. At a later point in the performance members of the audience are invited to drink tequila with the players.
The absolute highlight of the performance was based on Act II scene 3; in Olivia’s house, in the early hours of the morning, in a state between drunkenness and hangover, Sir Toby Belch quietly started singing lines which, in the original version are sung by the clown at Belch’s request. In many ways it was the most moving part of the performance, not in the least because of the simple beauty of Shakespeare’s original words:
What is love? 'tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What's to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies no plenty;
Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty,
Youth's a stuff will not endure
The song started quiet, subtle, and slightly sad; the actor sang softly into a microphone and the sound was distorted by using a very small amplifier. It reminded me of some of the work by Damien Rice. The words are repeated, tentatively, again and again. After a few rounds, Sir Toby is joined by his friend Sir Andrew. Together they persuade Feste to join as well. They were careful at first, as not to wake the other residents, but the song got louder and louder, eventually with the entire band playing and the audience clapping and singing along. The players distributed pizza in the audience and some were invited to dance with the players on stage. The party was quickly broken up by the character Malvolio who obviously objected to that amount of merriment in the wee hours of the morning.
In all, a very casual, open style of acting combined with wonderful musical arrangements to make for a very entertaining night. There are very few points of criticism I would mention, but at times the play was difficult to understand even for those who speak English very well, mainly due to the sound level during the songs – the high level of noise sometimes made it difficult to understand the lyrics. The other point is that I personally didn’t realize when exactly the character Viola or Sebastian was played – as the characters are identical twins they were played by the same actress. Of course this made the confusion between the characters in the plot more convincing, and it is possible that I got confused because I failed to spot some of the cues.
Filter’s adaptation of Twelfth Night illustrated how Shakespeare can be done in a non-traditional Shakespearian style. It was a perfect balance of using a classic text and making it interesting for a contemporary audience. The casual style was a breath of fresh air. Like many modern theatre groups, Filter’s constant message to the audience was: “this is play, and you must play with us”. I have seldom seen a more effective use of that credo.
