Samuel West is an outstanding Malvolio

Barbican Theatre

Last Christmas the Royal Shakespeare company presented Twelfth Night in Stratford. A year later, it has arrived in London at The Barbican Theatre. Critics had mixed feelings about director Prasanna Puwanarajah‘s dark interpretation of the play but they generally agreed that Samuel West‘s Malvolio was a highlight of the show.

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5 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

Helen Hawkins sitting at TheArtsDesk summed up her rave review: ‘This is a heartening evening out, where the atmosphere is almost pantomime-like and the complicity between players and audience becomes total. There are so many treasurable moments to take home with you – the crazed drunken “12 Days of Christmas” that Olivia’s household perform, Grady-Hall’s turn as a ventriloquist’s dummy, his reading of the letter that Malvolio, mad with rage, has sent his mistress, which he dutifully delivers as a stream of burbling anger. Extraordinary. Don’t miss.’

4 stars ⭑⭑⭑⭑

The Independent’s Alice Saville was intoxicated by it : ‘Director Prasanna Puwanarajah’s take on this tragicomedy seeps across the stage with a measured boldness that’s completely intoxicating. He’s found a persuasive, original re-reading for almost every character in this story, highlighting all the weirder, queerer bits of Shakespeare’s text rather than rubbing them away.’

Debbie Gilpin at BroadwayWorld  was enamoured with Samuel West’s acting: ’In a production full of brilliance, his is truly the standout performance. It’s multi-layered, exploring Malvolio’s irritating fastidiousness, his penchant for celebrity gossip, and also his more human side; there is a pin-drop silence as he declares his intent to seek revenge.’ Of the evening as a whole, she said: ‘Although it does take a little while to warm up, once it finds the balance between comedy and drama there is a lot of fun to be had with this production.’

3 stars ⭑⭑⭑

Julia Rank at LondonTheatre felt: ‘More lightness might help bring the show to life. As it stands, it’s a version that accentuates the many strands of weirdness and ennui found in the play, which are often glossed over in more conventionally cheerful productions.’

Alex Wood for WhatsOnStage decided ‘without the inclusive embrace of a thrust stage, the production feels occasionally distanced and muted: evasive, witty and wry, without ever truly surrendering to its audience.’ He praised the actors: ‘There are some cracking performances along the way. A Cockney-accented Samuel West channels the best of a well-to-do Gary Oldman as the pugnacious Malvolio (with a mightily impressive arrival during the yellow stockings scene), while a marvellous Freema Agyeman hits all the comedy beats as Olivia once the show’s proceedings brighten in act two. There’s also a juicy and enigmatic suggestion that Viola’s time posing as male courtier Cesario may have been more liberating than is often assumed. The electrifying Daniel Monks is also unafraid to present Orsino with an entitled air of pomp’.

The Times’ Clive Davis found it a long three hours: ‘I found myself longing for him (the director) to edit all these bright ideas down into something zippier and more coherent.’

Critics’ average rating 3.7⭑

Value rating 43 (Value rating is the Average Rating divided by the most common weekend ticket price)

Twelfth Night can be seen at The Barbican Theatre until 17 January 2026. Buy tickets directly from the theatre.

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