A bright and well acted studio production of one of Shakespeare's loveliest comedies, with Felicity Kendall a bemused but plucky Viola and Robert Hardy for once playing someone other than Robert Hardy, as Sir Toby Belch. The production is traditional & uses the full text. The cast, particularly Alec McGowan as Malvolio, are all experts in demonstrating that the way to help audiences to understand the text is for the actors to really understand it themselves.
It's fun, but not particularly funny without a live audience to play to, and it's one limitation is that the play's element of Melancholy is missing. Orsino, Olivia, Feste and Viola all SAY they're sad, but don't act it.
A good value purchase, brand new.
Great actors and a very watchable straightforward production of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. Felicity Kendall and Alec McCowen, Robert Lindsay, Robert Hardy and Sinead Cusack are all terrific and the story is told swiftly and with clarity. It makes a great introduction to Shakespeare.