BACKGROUND:

Barton's 1969-70 production took the course of providing what Gareth Lloyd Evans termed a "gravely lyrical interpretation of Shakespeare's work that derived from the text itself." Irving Wardle qualified his praise by stating "this is not the funniest or most inventive Twelfth Night I have seen; but I can remember no production that held all the comedy's elements in such harmony." For many critics, the focal point of the production was Emrys James's Feste, which Simon Gray declared "a theatrical triumph." Donald Sinden's Malvolio was similarly praised by the majority of commentators. Speaight noted that Sinden's handling of the role in the vein of high comedy left "the right bitterness in the mouth when the play's flight from realism might have seemed too precipitate." Critics further praised Judi Dench's Viola and the Scottish eccentricity of Barry Jackson's Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Most reviewers, however, faulted Lisa Harrow's Olivia as a depressing portrayal that jarred with Illyria's reputation as a "sunny place." In judging the production as a whole, Benedict Nightingale concluded that it was "Barton's peculiar and perverse achievement to send us out of Shakespeare's 'happiest comedy' feeling that neither [Olivia and Orsino] nor anyone else will live happily ever after." In 1970 the production was transferred to the Aldwych Theatre in London with several cast changes, including Richard Pasco as Orsino, and Tony Church as Sir Toby Belch.