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SPOTLIGHT: TWELFTH NIGHT promises to delight with 1960s Italian charm at Maynardville
- Maria Kearns
- 7 hours ago
- 2 min read
Maria Kearns
The Maynardville Open-Air Festival’s annual Shakespeare offering opens on 30 January 2026, and, in anticipation of this event, members of the press were treated to a comprehensive preview of this year’s production.
Jaco van Rensburg, CEO of VR Theatrical, shared a short history of the Festival, now in its 70th year, with a gaggle of reviewers around lunchtime in the Artscape foyer on 23 January 2026 before ferrying the group to the rehearsal room where members of the TWELFTH NIGHT creative team were waiting to present their vision for this new take on the much-loved play.
In the well-lit studio space, director Steven Stead delivered a compelling outline of his approach to the work, which he called ‘not just a trope-based comedy’ (as opposed to some of Shakespeare’s earlier plays). Stead placed particular emphasis on the play’s backdrop of loss and the use of music to weave together the different themes of the piece.
According to composer Wessel Odendaal, the songs and incidental music he’s written for the production were inspired by mid-century European compositions like those of Noel Coward.
During the preview, Greg King presented a delightful scale model of his set. The real article, which recalls a stylish mediterranean villa where inside and outside are hard to distinguish and which King describes as a ‘multipurpose non-literal space’, was built in Durban and has been shipped to Cape Town.
Before the small audience was treated to a performance of two scenes, Maritha Visagie’s eye-catching costumes were also on display. Items include statuesque dresses inspired by Fellini, a specially-made hat, and recycled vintage trim.
As readers may have guessed by now, this version of TWELFTH NIGHT is set to evoke the dolce vita of 1960s Italy. Without giving too much away, I can reveal that audiences can look forward to David Viviers as a debonair, Coward-esque Feste, a clown preoccupied with the pain of love and inevitability of death.
The impressive cast also includes Graham Hopkins as Malvolio, Emily Child as Viola, Jenny Stead as Olivia, Ntlanhla Morgan Kutu as Antonio, Aidan Scott as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Michael Richard as Sir Toby Belch.
TWELFTH NIGHT will be running at the Maynardville Open-Air Festival in Wynberg until the 7th of March 2026. Tickets are available through Quicket.