On Friday night, we set out for Whittington Castle's first ever outdoor Shakespearean production.  The weather was smiling and glorious.  Even the castle seemed to be enjoying all the attention.

On arrival, the organisation was superb with car park attendants on hand to make sure all went smoothly.  In the distance, the buzz of anticipation and some classical music playing gently in the background.

The audience was fantastic, wth people of all ages, gathered with an assortment of seats, blankets, flasks, and champagne.  The random popping of corks being one of the sounds of the evening. :)

The audience awaits on You Tube

Having read good things about Mikrokosmos Theatre Company and Twelfth Night being my fav Shakespeare play, I was really looking forward to seeing how they would play it in an outdoor setting.

The scene was set was a variety of small marquees.  In these castle surroundings, it was perfect.  When the play started, we weren't disappointed.  The acting was of a superb standard.  Voices can easily get lost outdoors, but they managed to be attentive to this throughout, projecting well into the audience.

There were so many excellent performances on the evening and as a troupe they worked effortlessly together.  For me, the highlights were Willam Huw as Malvolio, to begin with stern and serious, and then, cross-gartered, played a wonderfully comic scene!

Click to see the You Tube clip

George Kelly as Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Richard Kelly as Sir Toby Belch were the star double act of the evening.  In general, you forgot they were acting and simply were who they were playing.  Very, very funny!

Click to see the You Tube clip

Martin Gorst as Feste provided a sharp and witty glue to the whole production - his timing was spot on and provided the most cutting lines of the evening.

Viola was played by Sharon Shurmur - once again, a class act from start to finish - had the audience completely with her in her turmoil.

Will Jones as Orsino provided the anchor role as the Count and did so flawlessly.  Holly Thomas as Olivia was terrific, being at times over-bearing and then, in a blink, flighty and fun.

The supporting cast all provided excellent performances and it was good to see them enjoying a post match get-together in the Olde Boote Inn afterwards. :)

As for Whittington Castle, this was an utter triumph and one they should be rightly proud of!  To all the organisers, volunteers, cast and crew - a big thank you for an evening I'll never forget!

Everyone I spoke to afterwards had all thoroughly enjoyed it too!  Congratulations and am excited to see what else Whittington Castle has up it's elegant sleeve!

MORE INFORMATION

Click on the link to learn more about Whittington Castle.

To find out more about the theatre group, click on Mikrokosmos.