Photo: Jacon Borg

Following last year’s gutsy (yet wildly successful) staging of Two Gentlemen of Verona in a Valletta pub, WhatsTheirNames Theatre, under the leadership and direction of Philip Leone Ganado, return to  stage one of the Bard’s best known comedies, Twelfth Night, at the same venue. Spurred on by last year’s unlikely (but fully deserved) success, the company have this time added morning shows, with breakfast served as part of the performance.

I understand that all 12 shows of their latest production were sold out in record time, and it is easy to understand why.

WhatsTheirNames Theatre are sticking two fingers at all the naysayers who say you can’t produce quality theatre productions in Malta. Several excuses are usually bandied around: no funding, small audiences, lack of venues, etc. Well, guess what? It turns out that none of that matters as much as sheer talent, oodles of creativity and strong determination. Their sophomore foray into Shakespeare’s comedies featured some familiar faces from their previous production.

Joe Azzopardi returns to his comedic best, playing both Feste, the witty court jester, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, the stereotypical rich fool who is as also dim-witted and cowardly.

Azzopardi plays both with great skill, although he is much more convincing as Feste than Aguecheek, possibly because the latter requires a particular physi­cality (tall, lanky) to work best.

Azzopardi’s comic skills are well matched by Nathan Brimmer, who plays both the romantic and melancholy Duke Orsino as well as the penniless drunkard Sir Toby Belch. Here, the casting of Brimmer in both characters was spot on. Brimmer not only uses his physicality to maximum comic effect but also his guitar-playing and lovely singing voice to portray the sensitive nature of his Count.

The other welcome returnee was Joseph Zammit, who plays Antonio the sea captain and Malvolio, quite possibly one of the most complex comic characters penned by Shakespeare. Zammit plays Malvolio with great gusto contrasting his strict, wet-blanket character with his weak-at-the-knees infatuation over Olivia. Unfortunately, the tight editing and fast pacing of the production did not allow Zammit to fully develop the cruel humiliation he is made to suffer at the hands of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Maria.

It was, however, the new faces that made this production totally memorable. Joanna Wills, an English actress making her debut on the Maltese stage, and Becky Camilleri, who is one hell of an exciting actress, were both excellent throughout. Wills brought an aristocratic haughtiness to Olivia that worked beautifully. Even more effective was her sudden transformation into a giddy, lovelorn, lump of jelly when she falls in love with Cesario (Viola in disguise).

On her part, Camilleri juggled two very disparate characters �the coarse yet cunning Maria, Olivia’s maidservant, as well as the central character of Viola. Camilleri not only showed great acting skill in transforming herself into these very diverse characters (sometimes at break neck speed) but also managed to give the production some touching moments of pure sentimentality that perfectly balanced the zany antics of the other characters.

WhatsTheirNames Theatre have pulled it off once again. Their shows are full of inventiveness, charm and skill. I wonder how far they can take this challenge that they have set themselves, but their willingness to turn limitations into creative opportunities is to be lauded.

Play on!