Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale? Most subsidised theatres hanker for political relevance. Even so, when the Royal Shakespeare Company planned its new production of Twelfth Night, they can hardly have expected that by Christmas 2024 we’d have Malvolio as prime minister. The curious thing is that, as portrayed by Samuel West, Shakespeare’s eternal killjoy cuts rather a sympathetic figure. He’s elegant in dress and carriage, with a shadow of a........

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