THEATRE REVIEW:
TWELFTH NIGHT
17 JUL/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency
Rating: 4 out of 5


STRATFORD - It is, in so very many ways, a Night to remember. But then, William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night should never be just any night. It should always be a memorable evening. To that end, Stratford Festival artistic director Des McAnuff marshalls some impressive talent in bringing Shakespeare's comic tale to the stage of the Festival Theatre, where it opened Friday.

There is, for instance, Debra Hanson's massive set piece that turns the whole story into a trip through a shattered looking-glass. Not only is it a device that transforms Duke Orsino's Illyria into a land where anything goes, from bustles to Fender guitars to hanging fridges that just drop in for a scene, it also strikes a workable compromise between Hanson's regard for this theatre's unique thrust stage and McAnuff's oft-demonstrated determination to turn it into a conventional proscenium. While patrons seated at the extremes of the theatre will miss much of the theatrical effect of Hanson's set, they will appreciate her design nonetheless in that it forces McAnuff to stage almost everything in view of his full audience.

And much of it shouldn't be missed. It is, of course, the story of fraternal twins, Viola (played by Suzy Jane Hunt, standing in for Andrea Runge) and Sebastian (Trent Pardy), a pair of castaways washed up on Illyria's shores. Making her way to the court of the art-loving Orsino (Mike Shara), Viola disguises herself as the youth Cesario and enters the Duke's service. Soon, (s)he is serving as cupid, carrying protestations of the Duke's undying affection to the Countess Olivia (Sara Topham).

But while Olivia will not break mourning for her recently deceased brother to attend to the Duke's affection, she has no such scruples when it comes to Cesario, much to Viola's horror, Cesario is suddenly being pursued by Olivia. Meanwhile, below stairs, Olivia's drunken kinsmen, Sir Toby Belch (Brian Dennehy), and his carousing companion, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Stephen Ouimette) are locked in a bitter feud with Olivia's hidebound steward, Malvolio (Tom Rooney) and with the conivance of the servant Maria (Cara Ricketts), set about to hand the preening Malvolio his comeuppance.

It's all very silly stuff, of course, but it serves to pass the time until Sebastian puts in an appearance, accompanied by Michael Blake's loyal sea captain, and sets everything to rights by falling in love with Olivia, leaving Viola free to emerge from Cesario's cocoon and claim her Duke.

And through it all wanders Feste, perhaps Shakespeare's most beloved fool, played by Ben Carlson as some sort of wise old man of rock 'n' roll, dispensing wisdom and, as frontman for an ever-shifting band of latter-day minstrels, the simple, soft-rock tunes composed by McAnuff and Michael Roth.

In the main, McAnuff makes the most of his talented cast, most of whom serve both the play and McAnuff's vision to the best of their ability. Topham lends a delightfully ditzy aura to her Olivia, while as Orsino, Shara is appropriately dishy, justifying the passion he commands in Hunt's polished Cesario, a strong, believable match for Pardy's Sebastion. As demonstrated in his previous visit to the Fest, Dennehy still has a way to go before he can be called a great Shakespearian, but happily, he's made a bit of progress, assisted here by open-hearted performances from Ouimette, Ricketts and Juan Chioran.

For his part, Rooney brings an heretofore unexplored malevolence to Malvolio, which while it does little to diminish the comedy (wait until you see his smile), seems to be at odds with the spirit of the play itself.

Still, all that's missing here, finally, is some sense of the unbridled joy that would help the entire company shake off the stately, almost funereal clip McAnuff has imposed on the proceedings and achieve the sense of celebration that should mark any completely worthwhile Twelfth Night revels.