Shakespeare's Globe on the south bank of the Thames recreates the 16th-century playhouse atmosphere, with open-air groundlings and close actor-audience interplay. The reconstructed space amplifies Shakespeare's intent for plays to be experienced communally, with actors drawing spectators into the action and sometimes onto the stage. Robin Belfield's new production of Twelfth Night leaned into immediacy and carnival rhythm, balancing comic reversals with moments of melancholy. Ronke Adekoluejo's Viola portrayed quiet intelligence and emotional depth while navigating disguise and shifting roles. Costume details distinguished characters and underscored likenesses, while pacing and vigorous staging sustained revelry and sharp wit.
On the south bank of the Thames, Shakespeare's Globe offers a living reminder of how theatre once thrived in London. The reconstructed playhouse, a short walk from the site of Shakespeare's original theatre, channels the noisy, communal atmosphere of the 16th century. Groundlings stand under the open sky, actors pitch their voices into the crowd, and the interplay between stage and audience creates a shared energy.
Last night's new production of Twelfth Night, directed by Robin Belfield, embraced that sense of immediacy. The play itself lends itself well: a tangle of disguises, misplaced affections, and comic reversals that balance revelry with moments of melancholy. Viola, shipwrecked and separated from her twin Sebastian, disguises herself as a man named Cesario, only to become entangled in a triangle of confused desires. The duke loves Olivia, Olivia loves Cesario, and Viola herself secretly longs for the duke.
Around this, Shakespeare weaves drunken antics, sharp wit, and a carnival-like rhythm that Belfield's production leaned into with pace and vigour. Ronke Adekoluejo gave a thoughtful performance as Viola, playing her with quiet intelligence and emotional depth. As Cesario, she wore an androgynous African outfit, her early transformation marked by small details, a braid or two removed, a shift in posture there. Her performance traced the character's shifting roles with subtlety, from grieving sister to awkward page to an unwilling object of Olivia's affection.
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