The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 32

THE GUARDIAN Friday May 27 1994 Illyria is transported to Stratford in more ways than one for the Royal Shakespeare Theatre's new production of Twelfth Night. The result is great comedy Hits with Michael Billington identically twinned Viola and Sebastian; and that phrase will do nicely to describe Ian Judge's new version of Twelfth Night, which produces the kind of collective ecstasy you find only in great comedy. But how exactly is it done? For a start Judge and designer John ter have had the bright, but essentially simple, idea of suggesting that Illyria is an echo of Stratford-uponAvon itself: not the world of the Pizza Hut and McDonald's but of the Guild Chapel, the gardens of New Place and the half-timbered High Street houses. Gunter once achieved a similar effect at Glyndebourne by using the sheep-filled Sussex Downs as a theatrical backdrop. The result is to make it seem as if life and art are perfect reflections of each other: an ideal metaphor for a play as full of mirror images as Twelfth Night.

But Judge also reminds us, like Jurgen Flymm in his Hamburg pro- OST wonderful!" cries I Olivia Haydn Gwynne's confronting the Emma Fielding (Cesario) and Derek Griffiths (Feste) PHOTO: CLIVE myths a few years back, that Barrit's final gesture is to replace (0789-295 623). THE FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON 'LIFEFORMS' 90 minutes of organic soundscapes redefining electronic modern classical ambient THE 20 HEADSPACE TRANSMISSION TOUR 3 misinu it uth 10 the atiow may. 10rh 1 am 3am ChtiCaPe Horizon 1 Midnight WILH Pace 1Q: MAY 6.30pm Audio Avalon QUA CM Bury St 20th pm CO FOOL live from the foam Landon Euro widA vin 1BON digital flak 0001 319 240 40p par min max par min all ether times .2 CO- LP. Vision pilot from the forthcoming film YAGE Illyria is a country where Eros capriciously rules. Clive Wood's Orsino lingeringly kisses Emma Fielding's androgynous boy Cesario.

So, too, does Gwynne's love-struck Olivia. And Antonio and Sebastian longingly embrace as if they have more on their mind than seeing the relics of the town. Even poor Malvolio misreads the sexual signals when Olivia lays an affectionate hand on his arm. As Jan Kott pointed out, in Illyria passion is one: it only has different faces. The other necessary ingredient of Twelfth Night is an harmoniously balanced cast, which this production essentially has.

Inevitably, Desmond Barrit's Malvolio dominates the comic proceedings by the sheer weight of his presence. But Barrit creates a real character, visibly wincing when Sir Toby cruelly asks "Art any more than a steward?" and going for his afternoon walk with a dainty parasol with which he reluctantly harpoons the trick-letter. This is a Merthyr Tydfil Malvolio, ever conscious of his outsider status and yet desperate at the end to retrieve his shattered dignity: Barrit's final gesture is to replace The Turning World dance festival has become a showcase for pretension A turn off with finicky precision the solitary wisp of black hair that crowns his cggshell dome. Tony Britton's aristocratically vindictive Sir Toby, Bille Brown's manic Aguecheek and Derek Griffiths's nimble-witted Feste all, however, fit neatly into the comic pattern. And the romantic roles are exceptionally well played.

Emma Fielding's Viola, not least in her great speech on unrequited love, has a tear-stained lyricism that puts one in mind of Judi Dench. And Gwynne's Olivia, seeking endorsement of her beauty, and Wood's Orsino, lolling on day-beds and petulantly flinging cushions around, suggest they are united in vanity as well as in their love for Cesario. If I were to nit- pick it would be to say that, in the drinking scene, the music should come from the characters rather than the off-stage band, and that Feste's melancholia is underplayed. But Judge orders the stage beautifully even giving us unexpected glimpses of Sebastian's storm-laden arrival and Olivia's ostentatious mourning. and after his Cornedy Of Errors and Love's Labour's Lost, has pulled off a notable Shakespearean comic hattrick.

His secret, particularly in Twelfth Night and Love's Labour's, is to have uncovered the essential Englishness that lies at the heart of these universal myths. At the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Sophie Constanti OW Turning graphical expanded in its World fifth beyond confines year, festival the of The its geo- has original host venue, The Place theatre. Of the 15 (or so) companies participating in the 1994 series, three are being presented at the QEH (the Swiss Compagnie Philippe Saire and the ensembles of the Flemish choreographers, Anne Teresa de Keersmacker and Wim Vandekeybus) and another three at the Lilian Baylis. However, judging by the first few performances, The Turning World's spread across London does not indicate that this annual season of international dance has become either bigger or better in scope or quality. At The Place, Angels Margarit, a 34-year-old from Barcelona, perforrned her new work.

Corol.la. Although Margarit is a riveting performer, in Corol.la she rarely deviates from the spinning, whirling motion of her opening solo. Far removed from the organic richness of Margarit's choreography is the dance terrorism peddled by the former Jan Fabre duo, Maria Voortman and Roberto de Jonge. In Under A Cloud, four women and one man look slightly embarrassed as they stab and twist their way through phrases that unashamedly borrow from William Forsythe and carly Michael Clark and are more brutal on the body than anything dreamt up by Belgium's so-called "Eurotrash" choreographers. Philippe Saire does not really belong to this school of movement but his La du Crabe proved just as incurably pretentious.

La Nobuleuse du Crabe features 10 mediocre dancers and two appalling actorcomedians in contrived stop-start episodes of game playing and rule breaking. This pseudo-poetic nonsense flurries of incoherent bombast delivered alongside protracted phrases of inconclusive movement drags on for almost 90 minutes. It is made bearable by the much necded distraction provided by Saire's musical collaborators, the Balancscu Quartet. On stage the quartet plays a score in which the warm insistence of Alexander Balanescu's writing links pieces by Kevin Volans. David Byrne, John Lurie and Robert Moran.

And, as the evening wears on, the gap between Balanescu's disciplined flourishes and Saire's formless manoeuvres grows increasingly unbridgeable. Watching Saire's unruly rubbish tip of meaningless physical gestures, one is reminded of Jean-Claude Gallotta's juvenile meanderings for his Groupe Emile Dubois. Gallotta and Saire are similar in that they seem unable to make the distinction between real choreography and halfbaked ideas of choreography. In Saire's work one sees the same combination of limp posturing, hurried mincing and inane chit-chat punctuated with banshee screams found in Gallotta's novelties. One also secs adults dressed in costumes that are supposed to highlight each dancer's individuality but succeed only in making everybody look ridiculous.

The Turning World festival runs until June 19. Box-office: 071-387 0031. EMMYLOU HARRIS her stunning new album MAD LOL HARRIS Produced by Allen Reynolds and Richard Bennett "Cowgirl's Prayer once again displays her gift for performing exquisite songs with uncommon on CD, Cassette and LP Hear the album on the Grapevine MEGASTORES 23rd Virgin between listening posts May and 5th June.