For most plays, having seen another production within four years would seem very
recent, but the most popular Shakespeares come along a lot more often than that, and
avoiding
Twelfth Night for three full calendar years feels like an
achievement - and one I was keen to make, because however fresh a director's twist
on the story, there's only so much you can do to overcome familiarity. Realistically
it would take a lot longer to forget a play I know this well, but under the
circumstances this is pretty good going, and at least I break my run with a
production I was looking forward to: The big selling point of Simon Godwin's production for the National is that Tamsin Greig
plays a gender-flipped Malvolio. Now called Malvolia, she's housekeeper to the
wealthy Olivia (Phoebe Fox,) the last in her family and as a result in a declared
state of permanent mourning, any romance officially ruled out.
