Twelfth Night Review: if music be the food of love, then play it loud!
Updated: 3 hours ago
16 October 2026 | 19:00 | Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
⭐⭐⭐⭐ | PR - Invite
The Crucible Theatre has been quite the buzz of Sheffield this autumn, following their in-house production of King Lear directed by Titas Halder (which we reviewed here). This is part of the venue's Shakespeare season, a double-bill of plays featuring the (mostly) same company of actors. This October, we shift from tragedy to comedy with Twelfth Night, directed by Jamie Glover and starring Gavin and Stacey's Mathew Horne as Malvolio.
Twins Viola and Sebastian are separated by a tempest at sea, believing one another have drowned. Viola arrives in Illyria, and disguises herself as a man named Cesario, finding work as an attendant to the Duke Orsino. But when Sebastian arrives, looking suspiciously like Cesario, love triangles and mistaken identities run rife. Meanwhile, as the courts thrive on fun and chaos, puritanical steward Malvolio attempts to keep all of this foolishness in order.
The show opens with David Birrell's Feste, a storytelling fool who upturns his umbrella in a rocking motion, as waves crash and the storm commences. The company enter with ladders and ropes, all gathering centre stage to form the ship with a loud, theatrical drama. Viola (Bebe Sanders) and Sebastian (Harry Redding) climb to the top of their ladders, as their distance grows through a fluid movement sequence.
We see the narrative emerge through Feste's eyes, who also brings the show to a cyclical end with his song When That I Was and a Little Tiny Boy. Birrell glows with a magnificent voice and spirit, where Feste embodies the topsy-turvy energy of the 'twelfth night' festival with verbal sharpness and riddles.
In terms of Amanda Stoodley's design, the space is quite sparse. This shares some similarities with King Lear's earthiness, which is nice to see these themes weaved through both productions, although the materials of Stoodley's set are more brutal than expected for a comedy. Yet it maintains the ethereal, dream-like atmosphere of Twelfth Night with an illuminating sun/moon, sheer draping and stone seats that magically move on their own accord.
Where it takes some time for the comedy of the script to build, Milo Twomey (Sir Toby Belch) and James Chetwood (Sir Andrew Aguecheek) are delightful in their disorderly fumblings. Chetwood's classy frivolity and general joy for life are all too lovable, as we smile every time this duo enter the stage.
Mathew Horne's self-loving and pompous Malvolio is a treat for audiences alike. Not only humorous, but as the show's star casting, he is exceptional in working with Shakespeare's sense of rhythm and breath control. Even if his stage time is limited! The infamously humiliating yellow stockings scene is priceless, and lighting designer Richard Howell takes us on a journey by plunging audiences briefly into complete darkness for Malvolio's dungeon, successfully drawing on our empathy for him.
Glover's adaptation is generally very faithful to the text, and doesn't take too many radical leaps outside of what we know. But when an actor directs actors, as is the case here, I find there to be a great attention to detail in character work, every line delivered with intention and purpose.
Bebe Sanders is greatly suited to Viola's compassionate integrity, complemented well by Harry Redding's more physically decisive Sebastian. We also see a lot of Justina Kehinde's intelligent and poised Regan (King Lear) in her countess Olivia. Some of Kehinde and Sanders' romantic scenes have the potential for more comic nuance to be squeezed out of them, where at times these rely too heavily on the power of the words alone to carry the scene.
Where Titas Halder's King Lear was a surreal, dystopian adaptation that felt its length, Jamie Glover's Twelfth Night has a great pace to it, with the humour of the second act driving a glorious and vibrant evening. Backed by a trio of musicians, this revival is accessible to those that aren't Shakespeare-obsessive, embracing the play's enchantingly queer modernism and sense of merriment.
Running at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield until 31st October: https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/twelfth-night
