This detailed, melancholy and moving RSC revival of Shakespeare’s festive-season comedy, originally staged in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2024, suffers a moderate case of bloat. Over the fine grain of his production, director Prasanna Puwanarajah has laid a layer of forced comic business, which makes an otherwise delightful show ponderous at times.
Its lord of misrule is Michael Grady-Hall’s all-singing, all-clowning Feste, who is lowered into the action on wires in partial whiteface and Eraserhead hair. Since Twelfth Night only really gets going in the second half, I could have done without the game of ball-toss he played with the audience at its start, and his closing song, charmingly though both are done.
