BWW Reviews: Staying Up for a TWELFTH NIGHT
By: Amanda Finn Feb. 17, 2015
It seems fitting that Strollers Theatre would open one of The Bard's greatest comedies on Valentine's weekend as love is all around in Twelfth Night.
Rekindled by the 2006 film She's the Man, this Shakespearian romantic romp is oozing with mistaken identity and heartsick characters. With some of the greatest parts written in early modern theatre, director Greg Harris took his performers to task.
Twelfth Night is one of the more complicated plots which give the nearly three hour run a lot of information to convey. Viola, convinced her brother died at sea, disguises herself as a man to work under Orsino whom she is in love with. Orsino is, to Viola's dismay, in love with a woman named Olivia. So, Orsino sends Viola (Cesario) to woo Olivia in his stead which causes Olivia to then fall in love with Cesario instead. All the while the servants are playing tricks of their own amongst one another - there is a lot to follow but, luckily, Strollers has a group of talented storytellers.
Photo provided by Strollers Theatre.
The servants are the most fascinating characters in Twelfth Night both on paper as well as stage. They tend to be more multi-faceted because of their troubled livelihoods. After all, something had to drive the aptly named Sir Toby Belch to the almighty drink.
In the case of this production, some of the brightest performances came from the servant's quarters.
Lee Waldhart, for example, is the ideal Toby Belch. So often the drunkenness can overpower diction, but Waldhart has skillfully mastered his slurred speech alongside the lyrical words of The Bard. Jenni Schwaner Ladd's costuming for Belch added to his struggle to fit into his own family. Although he is one of the fools, Waldhart's softer moments create a lovable 'crazy uncle' vibe for Sir Toby.
Taking a slight turn from her most recent production, Kathy Lynn Sliter really gets her chance to shine as Maria. Though her sharp wit was evident in her role as Eleanor in The Lion in Winter, she got to explore the many realms of sarcasm as Belch's lady love and Olivia's right hand. Sliter has all of the elegance of a swan as well as the temper to keep unwanted visitors at bay.
Photo provided by Strollers Theatre.
A 'villain' who can oftentimes be difficult to dislike is Matthew Korda as Malvolio. While it is true that Malvolio is not a man with the highest respectability as he believes he should be, he is also just as vulnerable as the rest of the characters. Though he is often laughed at by his peers, Korda's performance of Olivia's steward is incredibly dynamic. When given the moments of sheer joy in Malvolio's life, Korda is able to take advantage of every second so that the blows to both his ego as well as his happiness become much more devastating. Perhaps it's just this writer's opinion, but Malvolio so often seems to be the most changed character in Twelfth Night which makes him the most fun to watch.
Director and set designer Harris too should be applauded for his simple, yet, beautiful set that fits so well with his modern adaptation. A fluid motion to remove the few draperies transforms Orsino's home into Olivia's without a lengthy scene change. This combined with Tom Littrell's fascinating lighting design for the storm early on in the show makes for a lovely evening.
This production is simple. There are not a lot of frills - there is enough of that in the dialogue - but there is a lot to it. Though there are plenty of stock characters, those characters become three dimensional beings.
To put it simply, Stroller's production of Twelfth Night is worthwhile because "there's life in it."
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