This show finished on Wednesday 31 January 2024, and this page is being kept for archival purposes only.

Malvolio's Fantasy

Wednesday 31 Jan - 21:00 to 22:00

Date

Wednesday 31 January 2024

Venue

Bedlam Theatre

Price

3/4/5

Author

Isabella Olsen-barone and Zuzanna Sołtykowska

Season

Bedfest 2024

Description

Malvolio, a bright and zesty fool, has been trying to manifest his rise to Dukedom since an early age, but nothing would give… that is, until his manifestations take form. In our campy adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Malvolio finds his way; Lady Olivia schemes and Viola maneuvers; Duke Orsino acquires the ultimate trophy; Mary’s patience is tested, Aguecheek and Carmen get up to no good, and good Sir Toby Belch…well, belches.

We look camp right in the eye, unlike Miss Karlie at the Met Gala. Primp and prep for your next Roman empire – catch Malvolio’s Fantasy this January at your favorite, Bedlam Theatre.

Content Warnings

Mentions of death
Sexual innuendos.

Additional Credits:

Actor (Mother) - Monica Oliver-Diaz
Actor (Viola/Caesario) - Menna Morris
Musical Composer - Magda Olech
Stage Manager - Emma Robb
Tech Manager - Cara Boyce

Cast and Crew

Team

Actor (Carmen Acoster) Tatiana Kacmarska

Actor (Duke Orsino) Nicolas Nemoliaev

Actor (Malvolio) Grace Read

Actor (Olivia/Captain) Victoria Ge

Actor (Sir Andrew Aguecheek) Lucien Ngai

Actor (Sir Toby Belch) Alba McGowan

Producer Shira David

Writer/Co-Director Isabella Olsen-Barone

Writer/Co-Director/Actor (Mary Acoster) Zuzanna Soltykowska

Bedfest 2024 Review: Malvolio’s Fantasy -

Saturday 03 February - By Olivia Laughton for The Student

‘Malleable, malevolent and mad’, Malvolio’s Fantasy innovatively reconstructs Shakespeare’s classic tale of love and confusion into a joyous yet thought-provoking narrative, written by Zuza Soltykowska and Isabella Olsen-Barone.

Washed upon the shores of Illyria, the young Viola (Menna Morris) disguises her identity with a fabulous moustache, joining the court of the melancholic yet serene Lady Olivia (Victoria Ge). Bound by their tragedies, musical expressions, and curiously enough, feminine appreciation of scented candles, they fall in love. Turning from Shakespeare’s traditional text, there is no delay here in waiting for a heteronormative resolution to their desires as they declare their love outright.

Orchestrating a plan against the constraints of class and gender, they arrange for Malvolio (Grace Read) to swap places with Viola and win the Duke Orsino’s heart. The suave Orsino falls for Malvolio’s loquacious charms, whilst in turn Malvolio’s insatiable desire for power leads to satisfying resolutions of requited love, without Shakespeare’s seventeenth century’s sexual taboos.

The complex and interwoven themes of gender, class and identity are brazenly interjected by a hugely comedic and – well – drunk, Toby Belch (Alba McGowan). A thick Scots accent, tartan hat and several alcoholic beverages spilt across the stage, his drunken farce caused shrieks of laughter throughout the theatre. The fourth wall well and truly shattered, once he’d caused enough chaos he sat among the audience, complaining about the speed of the set changes! Other moments of laughter came in the promiscuous relations of a charmingly baffled Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Lucien Ngai) and maid Carmen (Tatiana Kacmarska), as well as through the running motifs of candles, moustaches and plenty of wordplay and wit. As promoted on their Instagram (@malvoliosfantasy_bedfest), the ‘Outs’ of ‘heteronormativity’, ‘being forced to deny your dreams of dukedom’ and ‘yellow socks’ were well and truly banished, in a wholesome and heart-warming production.

Musical, witty and charming, Malvolio’s Fantasy left the audience with an enduring sense of the beautiful nature of loving, and doing so with pride.

Gallery

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