Review: Kanata Theatre's Production of TWELFTH NIGHT

Kanata Theatre’s production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, directed by Jim Holmes, opened this week. In a change from Kanata Theatre’s previous shows, Twelfth Night features a live band on stage led by Kenny Hayes, who are not only active participants in the play, but perform music composed especially for this production. Twelfth Night is a typical Shakespearian comedy, infused with themes of love and loss, coupled with antics involving mistaken identities, drunken uncles, and sentimental fools.

The stage was set (design by Dean Flockton) as the gathering place in a village square, surrounded by picturesque houses. The houses were very attractive, with a lot of attention given to detail. The costumes, however (design by Maxine Ball), were a bit of an oddity. The actors appeared in a mostly modern wardrobe, even though the script was true to the original sixteenth century text. A few times, modern contraptions, like cell phones, were cleverly used in line with the script, but in general, if the production team was trying to achieve something profound by combining old with new, it went over my head. It may have had more impact had the sets been that of a modern city, but the setting felt more old-world than modern. The mix of modern and traditional did not detract from the show, but it didn’t add any value to it either.

The music was pleasant and folksy, with the audience clapping along during the curtain call. The program insert even pointed the audience to a web site where the music could be purchased for further enjoyment, if desired.

The best part about this show was the actors – all of them delivered their lines exceptionally well, in clear conversational format, with the Shakespearian English flowing effortlessly.  Or at least, it appeared effortless, but anyone who has ever performed Shakespeare will agree that this is not as simple a feat as the cast made it seem. From Dale MacEachern as Sir Toby Belch, sputtering out his lines as the town drunk, to Emily Walsh as the lusty Olivia, to Barry Daley as the much maligned Malvolio, to Abbey Sugars-Keen as the earnest and perhaps naïve Viola, the entire cast was fantastic.

My gripe with Kanata Theatre is that I have persistently noticed that its casting lacks diversity. There are barely any people of colour in Twelfth Night, and they are cast in extremely minor roles. Ottawa has a diverse population and I know for a fact that there is tons of diverse talent in the Ottawa area. That's not to say that this cast isn't great - they are. But it would be nice to see some of Ottawa's diversity reflected in future productions.

Although Twelfth Night is not a groundbreaking show, it makes for an enjoyable night out at the theatre and is worth seeing for the acting alone. Twelfth Night is in performances through November 18th at Ron Maslin Playhouse. Click here for more information or to purchase tickets.

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