1969
1980
1987
1996
1998
John Sichel
John Gorrie
Neil Armfield
Trevor Nunn
Nicholas Hytner
Adrienne Corri
Sinéad Cusack
Jacquy Phillips
Helena Bonham Carter
Kyra Sedgwick
John Moffatt
Ronnie Stevens
Geoffrey Rush
Richard E. Grant
Max Wright
Alec Guinness
Alec McCowen
Peter Cummins
Nigel Hawthorne
Philip Bosco
Tommy Steele
Trevor Peacock
Kerry Walker
Ben Kingsley
David Patrick Kelly
Ralph Richardson
Robert Hardy
John Wood
Mel Smith
Grant Mitchell
Annette Crosbie
Tracy Harvey
Imelda Staunton
Amy Hill
Toby Stephens
Clive Arrindell
Ivor Kants
Toby Stephens
Paul Rudd
Joan Plowright
Felicity Kendal
Gillian Jones
Imogen Stubbs
Helen Hunt
Maurice Roëves
Stuart McCreery
Nicholas Farrell
Joan Plowright
Michael Thomas
Gillian Jones
Steven Mackintosh
Ric Morgan
Russell Kiefel
Sid Livingstone
Malcolm Reynold
Jim Holt
Alan Mitchel
Robert Lindsay
Peter Gunn
BBC Television Shakespeare: Twelfth Night (1981) (TV)
Of these five, I have seen only the recent 1996 theatrical release by Trevor Nunn. I hope to get hold of more of these in due course.
Trevor Nunn (1996): This is really a delightful, if not particularly profound, version of the play, with an absolutely stellar cast. The treatment is very cinematic -- i.e., not particualarly stagey -- and the setting and costuming place it in an indeterminate post-Shakespearean period (perhaps early 19th century) in a rather generic European setting.
The play is cut, and certain of those cuts make the interpretation of motives a bit hard to follow if you haven't already read the play. If you have, however, it brings the scenes to life with remarkable aplomb.
The performances by the leads -- particularly Helena Bonham-Carter, Nigel Hawthorne, Ben Kingsley, and (the relatively unknown) Imogen Stubbs are all superb. The dialogue crackles along, and the whole treatment is remarkably fresh for a play that can, in the wrong hands, grow a little tired around the edges. Definitely recommended.
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