Review: DELIGHTFUL 'TWELFTH NIGHT' AT GAMM THEATRE

Twelfth Night is possibly Shakespeare's most brilliant comedy, packed with ribald wordplay, mistaken identities, and revenge, tied up in a tangled web of unrequited love. The slick, energetic production at the Gamm Theatre gets every bit of it. This is a dazzling show, stuffed with talent in every role, and staged with panache. It is Shakespeare made accessible, and it is deliciously funny. Not to be missed.

Written around 1600, the gender bending and class issues that animate the play could have been ripped from today's headlines; directors Tony Estrella and Rachel Walshe have a clear vision for the show, and present the complicated doings at a sprightly pace that never sacrifices comprehensibility.

Shipwrecked and believing her twin brother lost, Viola (Alison Russo) is forced to disguise herself as a man to find work at the court of Duke Orsino (Cedric Lilly). Orsino is infatuated with Countess Olivia (Donnla Hughes) who is in mourning for a dead brother. When Viola (now disguised as  "Cesario") is sent to deliver the Duke's messages of love, Olivia falls hard for the young "man." Viola,  meanwhile, has secretly developed feelings for the Duke, complicating her mission even further.

Russo's Viola is utterly charming; a delight to watch as she deploys quick wit (and occasional swordplay) to survive the complicated courtly pursuits of the two houses. And Hughes turns in a wonderfully nuanced performance in a role that requires everything from the careful reserve of an Elizabethan woman heading a household to the randy pursuit of the charming "Cesario."

Of course, there is a below-stairs subplot; the "twelfth night" was, after all, an occasion for societal role reversal. Olivia's haughty steward, Malvolio (Deb Martin), rules the household with an iron fist, much to the annoyance of her upstart maid Maria (Rachel Dulude), her wastrel uncle Sir Toby Belch (Kelby Akin) and his companions Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Jeff Church) and Fabian (Jason Quinn). Their scheme to embarrass Malvolio succeeds beyond their wildest dreams.

Deb Martin offers a darkly comedic Malvolio shot through with tragedy. Her performance is a tour de force, and in the preview this reviewer saw, stopped the show with applause after a particularly affecting monologue. Playing against her with unhurried assurance are Dulude and the comic trio of Akin, Church, and Quinn, who are all spot on. Quinn deserves appreciative mention for his pitch-perfect delivery of "If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."

Threading through and framing the absurdities of the action with music and wry comments is the fool, Feste (Nora Eschenheimer). It's Shakespeare's meatiest role for a jester, and Estrella and Walshe's music-forward production gives Eschenheimer enormous latitude. She is a joy to watch: inveigling the principals, hustling the first row of the audience, offering musical commentary on piano; it's a bravura performance, the kind that puts an indelible stamp on a role.

The direction is thoughtful and balanced. While Estrella and Walshe don't shy away from the physical comedy (or low puns aimed at the groundlings), they have given their actors plenty of range, and, in particular, the sadness of Viola over her "lost" brother and the grim hoax on Malvolio are given the breathing space they need to leaven the humor. They do not shy away from the complications of swapped roles in a play already concerned with gender; they lean in, and it works. We are in talented hands, and the two-hour-forty runtime flies by.

Deserving of a word is Patrick Lynch's inspired set design. Two enormous shipping crates dominate the stage, thematizing the boxes of Elizabethan society (social class, gender roles, even, well, asylums) which open to reveal all-too-human petty rivalries and frictions. Lynch's boxes both echo and contain the two households; it's clever without being contrived. The lighting and sound, by James Horban and Hunter Spoede, work effectively and unobtrusively, as do David T. Howard's meticulous and effective costumes.

Shakespeare didn't invent the human, but his work marks a high point in representing complexity on the stage. Even in a full-bore comedy showcasing some of Shakespeare's most impishly constructed characters, there are the sparks of humanity that keep Shakespeare fresh 400 years later. This production centers, complicates, and polishes them to a high gloss with masterful performances and taut direction. Highly recommended.

Twelfth Night, Directed by Tony Estrella and Rachel Walshe, at the GAMM Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd, Warwick, March 21-April 14. Tickets: $55-65, available at https://www.gammtheatre.org/twelfth or box office 401-723-4266.

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