Home > Shakespearean Criticism > Twelfth Night (Vol. 26) - Background:

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BACKGROUND:

Peter Gill's directorial debut with the RSC presented a sexually charged revival of the play that was dominated by the image of Narcissus. A portrait of the self-absorbed youth, gazing at his reflection in pool of water, was the focus of designer William Dudley's otherwise spare set, and served as a continuous reminder to the audience of the themes of ambiguous sexuality and erotic self-deception. For Michael Billington, this resulted in a production that was "curiously short on social and human detail." This was further accentuated by what critics generally felt were the uncomic performances of Patricia Hayes as Maria, Frank Thornton as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Ron Pember as Feste. Additionally, Jane Lapotaire's androgynous rendering of Viola was faulted by Irving Wardle for serving solely as "a blank screen on to which others project their fantasies." Two dissenting opinions came from Bernard Crick and Michael Coveney, both of whom witnessed Gill's...

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1. Introduction
2. Reviews And Retrospective Accounts Of Selected Productions
3. Production:
4. Background:
5. Commentary:
6. Production:
7. Background:
8. Commentary:
9. Production:
10. Background:
11. Commentary:
12. Production:
13. Background:
14. Commentary:
15. Production:
16. Background:
17. Commentary:
18. Production:
19. Background:
20. Commentary:
21. Production:
22. Comparisons And Overviews
23. Staging Issues
24. Further Reading
25. Copyright