Our current production
Twelfth Night
According to Will Shakespeare himself, Twelfth Night (or What you will) is set in ‘A City in Illyria; and the Sea-coast near it’. This July, the rolling Sussex countryside is our Illyria, (specifically the gardens at Southover Grange, Lewes) with the vibrant sea coast not that far away.
Twelfth Night is another example of Shakespeare’s
‘misunderstanding’ comedies. The story of twins who are separated during a
storm at sea, the play centres on the siblings, Viola and Sebastian, trying
to find each other in a strange city. In order to survive and go about her
business, Viola has to dress as a boy (so, in Shakespeare’s time, that’d be
a young boy actor dressed as a girl dressed as a boy…) and find some form of
support. She is taken into the house of Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, who is
madly in love with the Countess Olivia. Unfortunately, Olivia is too busy
mourning the death of her brother to care what Orsino thinks but, when
Orsino sends Viola (who is calling herself ‘Cesario’ when she’s the
boy-playing-the-girl-playing-a-boy) to deliver a message to Olivia, the
Countess finds herself hopelessly infatuated with ‘Cesario’. And it all goes
beautifully, hilariously wrong from there.
Apart from the lovers and their pining, Twelfth Night
boasts
two of, arguably, the best roles for the more mature actor in the canon.
With Malvolio, we are presented with a man of such arrogance and
self-possession that you just have to laugh at him (look out for the ‘letter
scene’ – there are few, if any, funnier examples of how to fool someone in
English theatre) while in Olivia’s uncle, Sir Toby Belch, there is a man of
such pomposity, such elegant vulgarity, that you find yourself giggling
along with him and wanting him to have just one more drink for the road. Sir
Toby is that favourite uncle who tends to turn up at weddings – always first
at the bar, always up for another drink and usually pinching the
bridesmaids’ bottoms. You can’t help but love him.
If this sort of hilarity is just what you want from a summer evening’s
entertainment (and, frankly, with the economy in the state it’s in right
now, who doesn’t need some light relief?) then join us in the Southover
Grange gardens between Tuesday 20th July and Saturday 24th July, from 7.30pm
every night, for some fun, merriment and a good, old-fashioned, belly-aching
laugh. Why not pack a picnic to enjoy before the performance? The gardens
are open all day. And don’t forget to bring a rug or chair to sit on!
See you at Southover Grange!
Synergy goes to Norway.
This July, Synergy is embarking on its first ever tour abroad – after our week at Southover Grange gardens, we will be taking our production of Twelfth Night to Halden, a small town on the border between Norway and Sweden. We will be performing at Fredriksten fortress, which is a wonderful fortification consisting of gardens, forts, cafés and accommodation that hosts theatre, opera, pop and classical concerts, historical re-enactment and all kinds of activities. We are lucky to be generously supported by the Halden local council and have secured publicity in local newspapers and on radio and television. Needless to say, we are all very excited about this project and are looking to make it an annual event.
David Parton
Director