‘I am not mad’ trills a terrific Tim Crouch, commencing a thoroughly engaging hour of intelligently devised and wonderfully executed theatre. I, Malvolio is written as a narrative recollection of the course of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night told from the perspective of the puritanical steward. Insofar as one-man shows go, a certain level of storytelling prowess is required, and here Crouch manages to successfully balance the charm and verve of a children’s entertainer with the more brutal elements of audience involvement taken from last year’s Author.It is to Crouch’s credit that he has not shied away from the darker elements of Twelfth Night. The recurrence of Malvolio’s revenge (expertly exacted upon the audience at the end) refuses an audience the catharsis so often provided with a curtain call. The standout moment saw two audience members involved in Malvolio’s attempted suicide, successfully manipulating our laughter and turning it into self-loathing. Were we really just laughing at a man trying to hang himself? ‘Is that the sort of thing you like?’I caught myself leaning forward on a number of occasions (so drawn was I into the performance), only to be told to ‘sit up straight and stop slouching’. I laughed harder than I have at many comedians. A thoroughly mesmerising performance and probably the best one-man show in Edinburgh this year; I, Malvolio is a must see for Shakespeare-lovers and loathers alike.
