This show finished on Wednesday 31 January 2024, and this page is being kept for archival purposes only.
Wednesday 31 Jan - 21:00 to 22:00
Wednesday 31 January 2024
3/4/5
Isabella Olsen-barone and Zuzanna Sołtykowska
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.
Mentions of death
Sexual innuendos.
Actor (Mother) - Monica Oliver-Diaz
Actor (Viola/Caesario) - Menna Morris
Musical Composer - Magda Olech
Stage Manager - Emma Robb
Tech Manager - Cara Boyce
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
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.
