If
you’ve ever felt hemmed in by the expectations of others, you can find at least
one—or maybe five or six—characters to relate to in this lyrical Shakespeare
play.
The
twins, Viola and Sebastian, start off by being shipwrecked, with neither aware
the other has survived. To avoid getting hit on, Viola dresses as a young man
named Cesario then gets a gig with Orsino (Juan Rivera Lebron), the Duke of
Illyria, who’s hot for Countess Olivia. But that’s only the biggest switcheroo,
since many other characters are trying to express themselves anew, seeking
fresh identities and different pathways.
That’s
the fun of this work which plays, often outrageously, with the pangs of
love and the confusion that always attends that emotion. The production, under
the direction of Drew Barr, finds many delights in Will’s words, but it tends
to overstep in the humor department, with some of the jocular scenes cranked up
to cringe-worthy levels.
As
Viola/Cesario, Cassandra Bissell is effective in both genders as she fends off
the romantic sighs of Olivia (Christine Weber), the woman Cesario has been
assigned to woo for Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. Because Viola is in love with
her boss Orsino. Confused yet? Good, you’re in exactly the right place. There’s
nothing Shakespeare liked more than entangling his characters in a snarl of
mistaken identities and then finding a way to smooth out the mess by the end of
the piece.
Of
course, complications arise when the hard-drinking and aptly named Sir Toby
Belch (Aled Davies) prowls around Olvia’s compound with his partner in lewdness
and frivolity, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Tom Ford). Davies and Ford leave so stone
unturned and no fart un-wafted as they wring laughs out of the audience. And
they can be funny, even though the strain of trying to be continually hilarious can be exhausting at times.
Belch
and Aguecheek get sideways with Olivia’s pompous steward Malvolio (a
righteously stiff Lynn Robert Berg), and they are soon plotting with Olivia’s
clever gentlewoman Maria to make a fool of Malvolio, who himself has designs on
Olivia. This leads to the famous scene where Malvolio wears yellow,
cross-gartered stockings, having been tricked into thinking Olivia loves these
items when in fact she detests them. In this production, costume designer Kim Krumm Sorenson,
has added a black corset to the costume, making Berg look like a refugee from
an low rate BD/SM porno. But hey, it gets plenty of guffaws.
The
Sebastian part of the story gets short shrift in this staging, mainly because
Jonathan Christopher MacMillan seems less than involved in fashioning a
distinct character. So the extra-added mistaken identities fall a bit flat,
when Olivia mistakes Sebastian for Cesario, and so forth. 12th N is also known for its songs, most of which are delivered by
Feste, the jester in Olivia’s court, and M.A. Taylor handles the tunes with
ease, although his humorous asides during the play could use a bit more spark.
The
production design by Russell Metheny, however, is handsome, with the estates of
Orsino and Olivia superimposed on each other, and sharing their look of
elegance that’s just slightly past its sell-by date.
So
if you can get past some of the less than artful attempts at humor, this Twelfth Night has much to recommend it.
Twelfth
Night
Through
October 30 at Great Lakes Theater, Hanna Theatre, 2067 E. 14th St.,
216-241-6000.
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