The Virginia Informer

Last Updated:11/17/09 Section: Arts & Culture

As a society, we are unkind to those who deviate too far from our norms, criticizing and ostracizing those who do, even when their actions have little or no effect on social harmony. We regularly vitiate our politicians and celebrities when they stray from the roles we assign them or defy our expectations, thoughtlessly and needlessly doing great harm to those who dare defy convention. It is through the lens of this injustice that director Megan Behm '11 asks us to view Shakespeare In The Dark's production of Twelfth Night, which ran in the Commonwealth Theater on November 4th, 5th and 8th.

Highlighting the way in which our own society normalizes behavior, the production adapts Illyria to a familiar setting-that most public of spheres, politics. The play begins as Viola (Megan Ammirati '10), shipwrecked and believing her beloved brother dead, disguises herself as a man and offers her services to Orsino (Eric Nold '10), Illyria's governor. She becomes his main ally and messenger in his quest to woo the Socialite, Olivia (Meredith Rutledge '13) who, deceived by Viola's disguise, falls in love with Orsino's messenger. She, Olivia, in turn is pursued by her own personal assistant Malvolio (Lex Powell '10) who, at the malicious encouragement of Olivia's kinsman, Sir Toby Belch (Stephen Dunford '10) and Maria (Francesca Chilcote '11), her maid, declares his love to her only to be proclaimed mad and exiled from her household. With an abundance of mistaken identities and romantic scheming, the plot twists and turns into a convoluted hilarity, but these are the play's general motivating forces.

By far the strongest element of the production is its ability to effectively play Shakespeare's comedy in a manner accessible to modern comedic sensibilities, physicalizing the text in a way that allows the audience to understand the humor of the text even when it falls on unfamiliar ears. As well as this works, at times it detracts from the play rather than reinforce the text, particularly when comedic side-action is given equal onstage presence an distracts from the dialog. In addition to the use broad physical comedy, the production uses recognizable types to make the character's familiar and the social dynamics clearer. Olivia, wearing pearls and a black dress easily evokes Audrey Hepburn-type socialite, while Maria's sensible dress and large sunglasses at times remind one of Will and Grace's Rosario.

The impressive interplay created by the on-stage chemistry of those playing the more comedic roles serves the play well as the characters' biting jabs toward one another are delivered with a pleasing balance of malice and affection. Dunford's drunken, high-spirited and scheming Sir Toby plays excellently in opposition to the loveably quick wit and sharp tongue of Chilcote's Maria. The same applies Zan Gilles's performance the political satirist, Feste, blending the character's wit and above-it-all outsider's perspective to provide a cool headed counterpoint to the ebullient Sir Toby.

Continued...

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