Simon Ward reviews LIV:Sapphic Shakespeare at the Old Red Lion Theatre

Showing as part of the Camden Fringe, which is running at various venues around London until 24th August, this is clearly a labour of love for writer/producer/actor Tanieth Kerr. Directed by Katy Livsey, it is a re-imagining of Twelfth Night as a queer love story between Olivia (or Liv, as she prefers here) and Viola. We first encounter Liv (Beth Birss) in deep mourning for her brother, in spite of which her suitor Orsino continues to woo her, using as his newest messenger ‘Cesario’ (here ‘Rio’, played by Tanieth Kerr), who is, of course, Viola in disguise. Liv can see through Orsino’s empty gifts and poetry – he is in love with the idea of being in love, not with her. This messenger, or the other hand, is much more intriguing, in spite of her professed desire to eschew the entanglements of love.

This is not Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, where Stoppard spins a play out of the fate of two incidental characters, this is taking two of the main protoganists of Shakespeare’s work and giving them a new story. Whereas in Twelfth Night, Olivia falls in love with Cesario, when she believes him to be a man, and ends up marrying Sebastian – Viola’s identical twin brother. Kerr invites us to imagine what would happen if, instead, Rio revealed her true identity to Liv and it made no difference to her love. Much has been written about the ambiguity of gender in Shakespeare – he often delights in teasing the audience by having a woman (played by a boy) wooing another woman while disguised as a man. There must have been a frisson in the air. Not so today. When Rio finally removes his frankly flimsy disguise, it would be more surprising if Liv were to reject him because ‘he’ is actually a she. In fact, we would have thought less of her if she had.

As well as changing the plot, the action also seems to have been relocated to something like modern times – Liv wears wraparound dark glasses and is hiding from what seem to be paparazzi. The dialogue, though, remains either actual Shakespeare or Shakespeare-esque, and the transition can be a little jarring at times. I must confess that Twelfth Night is not a play I know well, and what I do remember of it revolves around the comic sub-plot, which is completely absent here. In fact, considering the original is a comedy, there is a distinct lack of humour throughout. There are, though, some deeply touching moments as the two come to realise their love for each other. As the piece draws to a close, in a clever inversion, Liv reads aloud the love poem that Rio has written her, and it moved me to tears.

Please note that the rest of the run will be at Hen and Chickens and not the Old Red Lion.

LIV:Sapphic Shakespeare is running at the Hen and Chickens Theatre, 109 St Paul’s Road, London N1 2NA from 17th to 19th August.