"It's everything you want Shakespeare to be"

There Ought to Be Clowns recently made the annual pilgrimage to Guilford to catch Twelfth Night. In a thoughtful review that trumpets the success of the ensemble as the true defining feature over the company, rather than their single-gender status, the final verdict was that the production "it's funny, it's sexy, it's moving [...] it's everything you want Shakespeare to be."

The Guilford Dragon agrees, saying Propeller "has once again managed to bring sophistication, modernisation and sheer genius to its production of this Shakespeare classic." Special attention is paid to the use of the ensemble in the box tree scene and Chris Myles' performance as Malvolio is "brilliant."

Emily Gorton expected an all-male cast to signal a traditional approach, but instead found "the imaginative use of space, accompanying music created by the actors on stage and an unreserved amount of nudity gave the piece new edge." Ben Allen and Gary Shelford are both mentioned for the "mastery" of their performances and the review tracks how the juxtapositions of light and dark are woven through the show.

The Public Reviews gave the production five stars, pointing to the enthusiastic response of a younger audience, lingering on the opening moments, and again praising Ben Allen (in "important earrings") and Gary Shelford's performances as Olivia and Maria.

ReviewsGate calls it "one of the best 'Twelfth Nights' [...] seen in recent years", praising the performances of Joseph Chance, Gary Shelford, Christopher Heyward, Liam O'Brien, Vincent Leigh, John Dougall and Chris Myles.

The British Theatre Guide sums up the production as "most wonderful." Like some of the others, the opening impression of the set and production atmosphere is discussed along with a number of highlighted performances, particularly Ben Allen, Gary Shelford and Joseph Chance.

The review on EastHampshire.org has nothing but glowing praise for all aspects of the productions, explaining how the fluidity of the scenic design, the music, the chorus, the use of physicality and a number of excellent performances such as Ben Allen, Gary Shelford, Vincent Leigh, John Dougall and Chris Myles all came together to give the production "a perfect balance" of theatricality and nuance.

And, finally, WhatsOnStage.com' five star review finds the ensemble "sparks and fizzes with each other as though it's playing with electricity," never shying away from the play's darker elements as it still maintains the comedy (a combination exemplified in Vincent Leigh's "sterling" performance as Sir Toby Belch).  [e]

A Little More

Here is a second version, slightly more fleshed out, of Jane Howard's review from yesterday.

And if you want to learn a little more about company stalwart Chris Myles, here is the question and answer session he did with The Coventry Telegraph.  [e]

"Fresh and enthusiastic"

Propeller's opened Twelfth Night at the Belgrade in Coventry last night, kicking off the company's 2012-2013 tour.

 Jane Howard for the Warwick Courier now finds herself "the staunchest of converts" after seeing the production, praising the mirrored set, music and "wonderful and fresh" carousing of Olivia's household.

Minnesota

Along with the general announcements of Propeller's upcoming projects, here are two previews highlighting their stay at Minnesota's Guthrie Theater, specifically. BroadwayWorld sketches out the season and Minnesota Public Radio looks at the season's bias towards "white and male." [e]

Bringing Back the Night

As the current tour starts to wind down, theaters are beginning to look with eager eyes for the next round of Propeller shows. Twelfth Night will make landfall at the Yvonne-Arnaud in Guildford in November and at UMS in February (this preview including pictures form the 2007 production).

BroadwayWorld has a more complete summary of Propeller's projects moving forward, alerting readers to their 2012-2013 tour of Twelfth Night and Taming of the Shrew as well as Propeller's plans to launch two more Shakespeare productions in 2013-2014, the announcement of a commissioned new work, information on this autumn's Pocket Henry and the creation of the Jill Fraser Award. WhatsOnStage also has the story.  [e]