Shakespeare: ‘The Pub Trilogy’: a fun, witty and entertaining night at the pub

Last week, I was rushing through the crowded streets of the capital as I made my way to The Queen Victoria Pub for WhatsTheirNames Theatre’s production of Twelfth Night.

It was the company’s fifth time performing the Bard’s romantic comedy in four days, as WhatsTheirNames Theatre marked their 10th anniversary by going back to their original roots – performing the three original productions that got them star recognition, and by doing so in a pub.

Staged between July 23 and August 3, to celebrate their decennary, the company presented their first three plays, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night and Much Ado About Nothing.

The cast performed twice every night, and if that wasn’t crazy enough, they also introduced ‘audience choice nights’ where it was the audience who got to decide, on the spot, which of the three plays would be performed.

I was invited to attend the first show of Tuesday evening, Twelfth Night, which happens to be my favourite Shakespeare comedy.

Despite my concerns about being late, I found myself at the venue earlier than I expected. With a cold beer in hand, I made my way to find a seat around the makeshift stage, which was the basement of the pub.

I’ve watched this wonderful theatre troupe perform in gardens, in a former brothel and in a historic cemetery, but my fondest memories of the company will have to be their earlier adaptations of the Bard’s comedies in the cosy and somewhat cramped The Pub, in Archbishop Street.

The comical duo: Sir Andrew (Joe Azzopardi) and Sir Toby (Nathan Brimmer)’s chemistry and humour had the whole pub giddy with laughter.

For these special productions, the group wanted to go back to their roots, performing in a cramped bar, with a drink or two in hand, most likely as the Bard would have wanted it to be.

Sure, the basement was bigger than The Pub’s setting, where the actors would often end up sitting on a member of the audience’s lap, but the space was still more intimate than their more recent productions.

The production was directed by and starred Philip Leone Ganado and included most of the original cast of the play, which was first staged back in 2017, including Becky Camilleri, Sandie Von Brockdorff, Gianni Selvaggi, Nathan Brimmer, Tina Rizzo, Joe Azzopardi and Joseph Zammit.

The play tells the tale of Viola (Camilleri), who is shipwrecked off the coast of Illyria, and believes she lost her twin brother Sebastian (Leone Ganado) at sea. She disguises herself as a young man, Cesario, and becomes the somewhat wingman of Duke Orsino (Brimmer) as he tries to woo the heiress Olivia (von Brockdorff).

Yet, Olivia falls in love with Cesario, who she believes is a man, and all the while, Viola only has eyes for the Duke.

That’s quite a confusing love chain, right? That’s Shakespeare for you, and it’s the sort of mischief, fun and wit the troupe excels in.

The true success of the production relied on the fantastic actors who play multiple roles and adapted into their colourful characters through quick and simple wardrobe changes.

The actors came up with the perfect formula to truly blend from one character to another and had the audience in the palm of their hands.

As the phrase goes, the group have aged like fine wine, and their synergy on stage is admirable and beautiful to watch

Nathan Brimmer did this with sheer excellence. The play opened with him as a love-sick and melancholic Duke, who feels no one’s love can triumph over that which he feels for Olivia, and in the very next scene, he stars as the rowdy and hilarious Sir Toby, Olivia’s drunk uncle, who had the whole basement roaring with laughter.

Camilleri’s performance was also one worth noting, as she found an ideal balance of humour, melancholy and compassion. She had the audience’s full attention when she came to terms that Olivia had fallen in love with her male persona, not only through her script, but also through her facial expressions, when one look or raised eyebrows would say it all.

Selvaggi’s character as the unliked Malvolio was also one of the crowd’s favourites. His lines were sharp, as was his presence on stage, and watching his character rise in hope of Olivia falling in love with him, only for his dreams to be squashed in a humiliating manner, highlighted the young actor’s talent.

Tina Rizzo starred as Maria and Joseph Zammit as Antonio.

Much of the play’s humour came from the mischievous trio – Maria (Rizzo), Feste (Azzopardi) and Sir Toby (Brimmer), who brought high energy, music and singing to the stage, along with a lot of laughter from the crowd.

Another memorable moment was von Brockdorff’s portrayal of Olivia’s giddy character when she began to seek Cesario’s attention. Instead of seeing her as a harsh heiress, she appeared cheerful, and full of hope as love cast its spell on her. Azzopardi also played an excellent Feste, and it was enjoyable watching him change character into the foolish Sir Andrew.

As the phrase goes, the group have aged like fine wine, and their synergy on stage is admirable and beautiful to watch. To stage performances every day for two weeks is no small feat, let alone perform two 90-minute shows back-to-back in one evening.

At a time when the world feels very heavy and the news unbearable, the production was just the thing I needed to lift my spirits. It was a reminder of the important role the theatre truly has, sometimes in its simplest form – to entertain and to give the audience a moment to forget their troubles.

I left Queen Victoria City Pub full of happiness and glee, just like 20-year-old Giulia did back in 2015 when she attended the first Shakespeare at the Pub all those many moons ago.

As the quote goes, some achieve greatness, and that is truly the case for WhatsTheirNames Theatre group.

A big well done to them all!

My only question is, what will the next 10 years bring for this witty, smart and creative company?