Twelfth Night – Review – Sheffield Crucible Theatre
By Clare Jenkins, October 2026
Jamie Glover’s energetically engaging production of Shakespeare’s other ‘comedy of errors’ begins as it ends, with music. Three onstage musicians (guitarist Hazel Monaghan, clarinettist Nicholas Hann and violinist Evie Hilyer-Ziegler) accompany Feste the fool as he sings, umbrella in hand, that ‘the rain it raineth every day’.
A violent thunderstorm and shipwreck follow, vividly imagined and skilfully choreographed as the cast sway and stagger across the thrust stage, two stepladders representing the doomed ship.
Among them are Viola and her twin brother Sebastian. While Viola survives, she believes her brother to be dead, and so – masquerading as the male Cesario – she enrols in the household of Duke Orsino. He uses her as his messenger to woo the Countess Olivia (Justina Kehinde, moving effortlessly from stately to slinkily seductive), but she immediately falls for Cesario. Cue a love triangle marked by confusion and humour.
A secondary Feydeau farce-like plot concerns the drunken Sir Toby Belch (a droll Milo Twomey), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (a wonderfully foppish and foolish James Chetwood) and the maid Maria (Katie Wimpenny). Together they gang up against Olivia’s pompous steward Malvolio, persuading him that – if he were only to wear yellow stockings, gaiters and a fawning smile – he can win his mistress’s hand in marriage.
“Charismatic”
As the puffed-up Malvolio, Mathew Horne (of Gavin and Stacey fame) primps and preens like a bewigged Elizabethan Liberace. That makes his descent into literal and inner darkness (a single spotlight showing him in chains on the prison floor) all the more poignant and disturbing. Wig off, tunic stained, face ashen, his voice now dulled with humiliation and hurt, he shows what it is to be pierced by ridicule – ‘Why have you suffered me to be imprisoned?’ His parting words, vowing to be avenged, seem hollow, as he stumbles away like a wounded animal.
It can be a challenge with Malvolio to get the balance right between farce and feeling, and the casual cruelty of his treatment can sometimes be played solely for laughs. But Horne and director Jamie Glover skilfully avoid that, conveying the real pathos of a man brought low by the tricks played upon him.
David Birrell’s Feste, meanwhile, is effortlessly charismatic. A fool, yes, (as indicated by the Morris Dance-like ribbons in his long hair and on his waistcoat) but a clever, thoughtful one. His presence is commanding, his singing soulful: the folk-inspired music throughout, composed and directed by Genevieve Dawson, adds an ethereal quality to this fast-paced production.
At times, as when the ensemble join in with the Three Merry Men frolics, he’s almost a Master of Ceremonies, neatly directing the shifting territory between entertainment and insight.
“Effervescent”
Two months ago, he was equally compelling as Gloucester in King Lear on this same stage. It’s interesting to see how the same cast take on different roles, repertory-theatre fashion, in a very different kind of play. As the gentle, saddened Viola, for instance, Bebe Sanders has space to make her mark here in a way she didn’t as Cordelia. The scene where she and Sir Andrew are forced into a mock fight has excellent comic timing, while her final reconciliation with Sebastian is very touching. Meanwhile, Wimpenny – so icy and restrained as Goneril – is effervescent to the point of spontaneous combustion as Maria, forever dashing on and off stage or leaping into the air in excitement.
Amanda Stoodley’s minimalist set – a stone circle containing just three moveable benches – allows the focus to remain firmly on the actors and the action. It’s effectively complemented by Richard Howell’s impressive lighting design, with a large sun and moon helping to create the at times dream-like atmosphere, as well as changes in time and tone.
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Twelfth Night is at the Sheffield Crucible until 31st October: sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/twelfth-night
images: Manuel Harlan
Clare is a journalist, former BBC Radio broadcaster and co-founder of the independent radio production company Pennine Productions. She and her national newspaper travel writer husband Stephen McClarence have been regular visitors to India for different work commissions.
Two years ago, their book, Teatime at Peggy’s: A Glimpse of Anglo-India, was published by Bradt: https://www.bradtguides.com/product/teatime-at-peggys/, and is now in its 2nd edition. They are currently working on a sequel.
Clare’s also written a number of books based on personal testimony, and is currently compiling an oral history of Sheffield Newspapers for Sheffield Archives and the British Library.
