My overall impression
This was a well acted and very fun production of one of my all time favorite plays in the universe. Some incredible performances, beautiful music, and well-spoken Shakespeare to be see here!
The Shakespearean language was extremely clear from the entire cast. The language flowed easily and naturally from their mouths -this is obviously a group of actors who know and love their Shakespeare.
Stand our performances were:
-Mary Ellen Schneider, a BRILLIANT and sincerely funny Olivia, and a humorous (but not convincingly male by any means) Sir Andrew.
-Christopher Greenwood, a most delicious Malvolio with incredible commitment, and a lovely Orsino.
-Katelyn Myer, a sassy and devious Maria, and heartfelt Antonio; Myer was the only actor in the production who I felt truly was able to simply but honestly able to flow between genders in a way that I could totally suspend my disbelief for the magic of the story, as well as being reflective of the themes of gender fluidity within the story.
And of course, the gorgeous live music performed throughout by extremely talented Liz Eldridge was just delightful! I would have loved if she was incorporated into the actual story more – perhaps if she had also played Feste this would have worked more for me.
I had a number of issues with the direction and interpretation of this production.
Before elaborating, I feel that it’s only fair to share that I have very strong opinions and feelings about Twelfth Night, since I launched my own theatre company by directing this play, and even named the company after it: The Illyrian Players, in honor of a land where gender and sexuality are fluid, are performance, and thus call into question our own identities as based on our desires.
I felt that the provocative, relevant, and dangerous themes/situations of this play were glossed over in favor of a fun romp. And there’s nothing wrong with that – it was a well done fun romp! Just not my cup of tea. I personally felt no resonance with the depth of this most brilliant play, which is one of Shakespeare darkest, most twisted comedies.
There was no heat and thus no real danger in these characters’ desires for those they weren’t “supposed” to want. The production was missing the subversiveness of androgyny – how messing with our perception of gender makes us truly uncomfortable, and thus makes us think about what our desires mean to our own identities.
I had a hard time believing that any character thought Cesario was male, even an effeminate male, and that anyone would mistake Sebastian and Cesario for each other.
There was a great moment at the end of Olivia and Viola (revealed as a woman) of questioning their earlier connection that I absolutely loved! I wanted more of that.
The darkest scene in the play was cut completely (where Malvolio is tortured by Feste). I understand the necessity of cuts for time, but I again felt it lightened the production unnecessarily.
As is usually the case in productions of Twelfth Night, the characters who get screwed over and have no happy ending (Malvolio, Sir Andrew, Antonio) are swept aside with little ado, instead of being pointed out as those who are victim to the carelessness with which our protagonists achieve their own happy endings.
Overall, I wanted to see why this was still an important story to tell; I wanted it to make me think about the way we look at love and gender.
I appreciated that this version with only 6 actors was quite well done, but I felt that some of the depth of these many incredible characters was lost when each actor was juggling multiple roles. The directorial interpretations of the characters were the most obvious choices that are seen in almost every production of Twelfth Night, and I was hungry for more.
Ultimately this production was very much worth seeing, a very fun night at the theatre, and a great introduction to Shakespeare for audiences who are tentative about the Bard.
