Wednesday 16th - Saturday 19th December 2009

The Crescent Theatre, BrindleyPlace, Birmingham, B16 8AE

“This is surely Twelfth Night as never seen before. Liz Light’s superb production reveals that her youth group has in Alex Butler a Malvolio who can handle both the preening that makes him so amusing and the distraught realisation that the heartless Maria has made a complete fool of him. Stage2 has done it again!” John Slim, Behind the Arras

For Stage2’s 100^th major production we pulled out all the stops for a fabulous festive treat! Set in Victorian times, the red, green and gold colours largely used in the show added to the Christmas feel of the show – along with the three Christmas trees and two bay trees, later employed in a wonderfully ambitious version of the box tree scene! Our most extravagant set ever saw Orsino’s guests on a balcony 3 metres up and opened up all the rooms like a Victorian dolls house with steps leading onto a bustling street. The levels were consistently used to both powerful and hilarious effect -  the ‘harmless barmy beanpole’ of a Sir Andrew (Ethan Hudson) sprawling his way up Olivia’s steps to eavesdrop on her declaration of love for Viola and Valentine singing like a siren in the midst of a very 3 dimensional shipwreck!.

 Carol singers outside the theatre and on stage in the interval and street urchins handing out programmes and presents ensured our whole company could take part. Thanks to a grant from The Charles Henry Foyle Trust we were able to bring in Pete Clifford as a magic consultant , the very versatile Wayne Fitzsimmons to help with movement and hair and Richard Radnor Williams for another beautiful score.

“Liz Light’s production of Twelfth Night was a thoroughly engaging, effervescent piece of theatre. The comic timing from Feste and Fabian (Jonni Dowsett and the pint sized Luca Hoffman) was superb, earning lots of laughs. There were many notable scenes but one of the highlights was when Malvolio was reading the letter... long will be remembered members of the cast appearing on stage with evergreen foliage held  over their heads, eavesdropping to the reading. Moving downstage in unison and shrieking when in danger of being discovered – reminiscent of Burnham Wood. Together with the unwaveringly sure performances from all involved this made for an outstanding evenings entertainment.’ Curtain Call