Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at ACT And Seattle Shakespeare Company

Dear Readers, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” is a difficult show at best.  On the one hand it’s a romantic comedy, filled with love and sex and music, and on the other hand it’s a story where some characters are in mourning for loved ones and other characters are performing vicious tricks on people just for the fun of it.  So, when ACT and Seattle Shakespeare company announced they were tackling this as their first joint venture since they merged companies, I wondered which way they would take it.  Sadly, they leaned in heavily on the romantic, the silly, and the music, and all but abandoned the depth.  And while I enjoyed many of the performances, and very much enjoyed the music, other performances amounted to just a lot of yelling, and the ending left me wanting.

It's one of Shakespear’s more twisty stories as Viola and her brother Sebastian (Alegra Batara and Rhys Daly) are caught in a severe storm out at sea and the ship goes down.  Both end up washed ashore on the coast of Illyria, ruled over by Duke Orsino (Arjun Pande), but neither of them knows the other has survived.  Viola decides she must protect herself by disguising herself as a boy, and she goes to work for the Duke going by the name Cesario.  The Duke is in love with the lovely Olivia (Jasmine Jean Sim) but she wants nothing to do with him.  So, the Duke sends young Cesario to bring his protestation of love to Olivia, but Olivia finds herself drawn to Cesario.  But Cesario, or rather Viola, finds herself drawn to the Duke.  Meanwhile Olivia’s Uncle Sir Toby (Tim Hyland) has brought around Sir Andrew (Peter Dylan O’Connor) so Sir Andrew can woo the fair Olivia as well.  Oh, and Olivia’s steward Malvolia (the always incredible Amy Thone) is also secretly in love with Olivia.  Everyone’s in love with Olivia, except Viola.  And so much more.

The show is already complicated, but all those complications are necessary for a good production.  So, I question why director Annie Lareau chose to focus mostly on the comedic complications and silly bits and ignore the icky death stuff. And to add insult to injury, they introduced another romantic complication that never existed before only to cruelly abandon it.  Let me explain.  In this version they very clearly (I am not inferring anything here) create a romantic relationship between Sebastian (Viola’s brother) and Antonio (the sea captain who rescues Sebastian and is sweetly played by Benjamin Neil McCormack).  The two hug and kiss and profess their love for each other.  But then as soon as Sebastian meets Olivia (whom she thinks she’s seeing Cesario) Sebastian sleeps with Olivia and marries her (this part normally happens in the play).  And we end with Sebastian cruelly spurning Antonio who shambles off the stage, dejected.  So, he’s in love with Anotnio until he sees a pretty girl.  Interesting message to jam into the show … especially during Gay Pride Month. 

And then there are the tricksters, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Maria (Sarah Harlett), Fabian (Pilar O’Connell), and Feste (Cassie Q Kohl) who decide to trick Malvolia that Olivia loves her in return, only to humiliate her.  This storyline has always felt cruel, especially here as they chose to play it with little or no comeuppance for the tricksters who take the ruse WAY too far, and the show ends with everyone dancing around and singing while Malvolia stares off into the distance, utterly destroyed.  I’m waiting for the sequel to this production where Malvolia and Antonio come back and take out the lot of them, John Wick style.  Now THAT would be enjoyable.

As I said, there are some good parts to the show.  Sim is, as always, transcendent.  You know how much I adore her from her other roles at the Can Can and her amazing turn in “Dangerous Liaisons” some years back.  She has only one of the songs added to the show, but she makes the most of it, and her journey into love and lust for Cesario is stunning.  And speaking of the songs, they seem to have been wonderfully curated and composed by Malex Reed who accompanies and sometimes sings with them on stage.  O’Conell and Kohl also take turns with some of the numbers to glorious effect along with many others in the cast.  But as much as I liked the added songs, there were too many and it made the show way too long (almost 3 hours). 

Batara and Daly are perfectly cast as the twins and are super fun to watch.  Batara especially has amazing presence and a great voice to boot.  As does Daly, I guess I’m just still a little disappointed that he became a jerk at the end.  It’s hard to take joy in the happy ending of someone who does hateful things.  But I digress. 

The show while having some wonderful things going for it, just feels all over the place, packed with superfluous bits and storylines, and ultimately fails to resolve to a satisfying ending.  And so, with my three-letter rating system, I give ACT and Seattle Shakespeare Company’s production of “Twelfth Night” a disappointed MEH-.  A wonderful cast who didn’t all bring it, in a production that didn’t live up to its potential not to mention an added storyline that made me angry as to how they handled it.  Happy Pride Everyone.

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