A chance to strut their stuff

SHAKESPEAREAN theatre is associated with the tragic figures Hamlet, King Lear and Othello.

But Englishman Tim Crouch is speaking up for the pip-squeaks, the underlings, the rank-and-file remainders of Shakespeare’s plays. Crouch has been successful with plays from the vantage point of peripheral Shakespearean characters. The darkly comic I, Malvolio is about the stuffy, self-righteous steward from Twelfth Night; while I, Peaseblossom centralises one of the famously underwritten fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Both shows are at the Abbey for March.

Crouch is an admired theatre voice, acclaimed for daring formal works such as An Oak Tree and The Author. Both of his Shakespeare shows at the Abbey are accessible to young people. I, Peaseblossom can be enjoyed by audiences aged six and upward, while I, Malvolio, with its contrary protagonist, is aimed at the over-12s. Crouch says the shows appeal to adults, too. “Peaseblossom is aimed at ages 6+, but some of the best times I’ve had with that show have been with people in their 30s and 40s,” he says. “I suppose I’m idealistic, in that I believe a good piece of theatre should not be in any way limited to, or limiting for, its audience.”

When the Royal Shakespeare Company commissioned I, Malvolio, they requested versions for adults and children. This was easier in theory than in practice. “I racked my brains about it,” says Crouch. “Malvolio wears a leopard-print thong in the show, so I bought a pair of leopard-print trunks, as well, for the kids’ shows. But then, having done a few performances in schools, I realised very quickly that the thong was the funniest thing. So, I wear it now for primary schools up to adult audiences, because it’s just funnier. In the end, I didn’t make major changes between the adult version and a younger person’s version.”

Malvolio is a cult character in Shakespeare. Victimised by bawdy rascals in Twelfth Night, he leaves the stage at the finale, swearing revenge on everyone. In I, Malvolio, the audience become the tormentors that he will be revenged upon. “Malvolio is an authoritarian,” says Crouch. “He’s a disciplinarian. He’s a pompous bigot. He’s the kind of model that a lot of young people encounter in their lives. And the show allows the audience to challenge that role.” Yet Malvolio is also a victim. In Twelfth Night, he is subjected to a cruel prank and suffers gratuitously. “He’s the victim of a practical joke,” says Crouch. “One could easily say he’s the victim of bullying. That’s another theme that runs through the piece, about how much pleasure we get from watching someone else getting bullied. And that theme chimes very neatly with a young audience. On many levels, it’s a clown show and I get you to laugh at me. But I then attack you for laughing at me, and I use the laughter to open some space to think about why you might be laughing.”

Crouch says the show differs with every performance, depending on what Malvolio can provoke. “Malvolio spends an hour despising you and disrespecting your decision to be in the theatre,” says Crouch. “Young people’s work often runs on a very shiny level. ‘How wonderful that you’re here, kids. Theatre is fantastic. You’re going to love it.’ But Malvolio wishes you weren’t here. ‘Who brought you here?’ he asks. And he makes you vow never to come to an event like this again. A young audience doesn’t really expect an actor to spend an hour slagging them off, and they respond spikily and playfully with that.”

Crouch played Malvolio in a 2001 production of Twelfth Night. “I very acutely felt his tragedy, but I also felt his story was unfinished,” he says. “His final line, ‘I’ll be revenged upon the lot of you,’ is just so tantalising, because we never know what that revenge might be. But in I, Malvolio there’s as good a piece of theatrical revenge as I can do to an audience and that feels good. It feels like I’ve laid a little ghost to rest.”

* I, Malvolio and I, Peaseblossom until Mar 23; www.abbeytheatre.ie