For many years, scholars have been discussing whether William Shakespeare actually visited the places he used as vivid contexts in plays like Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About nothing, and Othello.

In What You Will: a Sea Dog’s Tale (by Griffin Theatre Arts at St James Cavalier) a troupe of four actors have imagined that the young Will (Chris Galea) manages with some difficulty to get the Captain (Phil Coggins) and jack tars (Simone Ellul and Sarah Clough) of a ship to take him on as mariner when he tells them he can write about their voyages and adventures and make them famous.

It says much for the ability of all four performers

The Captain thinks that Will could write his first piece about an Illyrian adventure he has had, and this launches the performers on a performance of what is perhaps Shakes-peare’s most charming comedy, Twelfth Night, or, What You Will.

Enlisting Will as a member of the cast, the ship’s crew presents a performance of a fairly complex piece by just four actors. There are several characters, a main plot that is not always straightforward and an often comical subplot.

One fairly important character, Feste the jester, is omitted, together with a number of minor characters. The text has been pruned, sometimes fairly heavily, but without greatly lessening the play’s presentation of romantic love or the satirical comedy.

In the play Coggins not only plays Orsino and Malvolio, but also acts as a narrator. He makes clear to people in the audience who are not very familiar with the plot what is happening and what the characters are trying to do. This is made necessary by the fact that each actor is performing three or four roles, so in a complex scene such as that of the duel between Viola and Andrew Aguecheek, which is interrupted by Antonio and necessitates quick changes by actors, from one character to another, some guiding from the narrator comes in useful.

There are odd moments, but a clever device such as transferring Antonio’s speeches in the last and long scene to a letter read out by Orsino, and omitting Malvolio’s final entrance, make that last scene play-able and the resolution of the two love relationships more effective.

Considering that all four performers go barefoot throughout and that costumes are minimal, it says much for the amazing qualities of Shakespeare’s text as well as for the ability of all four performers that I could often accept them as the full-blooded characters Shakespeare created.

The visual minimalism of the production, combined with the great intimacy of this theatre space, forced me to concentrate on the characters’ emotions. There is a great scene where Viola gives Orsino a very moving lesson about true love, and makes him appreciate how deep a woman’s love can be. Here, Sarah Clough’s gentle, half-pleading half-accusatory Viola/Cesario and Coggin’s Orsino, I spotted vocal and emotional nuances I have sometimes missed in elaborate productions.

Of Galea’s various roles, his Toby Belch – bibulous, scrounging, fun-loving and vindictive – is the most vivid, physically and vocally.

Simone Ellul’s Olivia changes effectively from the veiled mourner of the early scenes who keeps a tight hold on her feelings, to the sexually-charged and desperate suitor who terrifies Viola/Cesario with her physical demands. Her Maria, setting her cap at Toby, and helping him wreak revenge on Malvolio, cleverly demonstrates she can outdo the men when it comes to laying plots. Coggin’s sour-faced Malvolio, who changes into the grotesquely smiling and clearly lustful suitor of Olivia, matches his Orsino in skilful characterisation.

A bunch of sailors could not be expected to sing the elegant love songs Shakespeare wrote for the play and, in any case, the songs are meant to be sung by Feste, a character missing from this production. But the characters in the subplot do get round to singing a song or two when in their cups.

This production is worth viewing by Shakespeare fans as well as by those who appreciate a show that is not just entertaining, but also a painless guide to the plot and characters.

What You Will: a Sea Dog’s Tale shows today at 8 pm at St James Cavalier, Valletta.

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