Review: TWELFTH NIGHT at Folger Shakespeare Theater

When it came to gender fluid plays, William Shakespeare was way ahead of the curve even 400 years ago.

At the time, young males routinely played the female roles anyway. He had already made cross-dressing  hidden identity a part of “The Merchant of Venice” and would do so again in “As You Like It.” 

In “Twelfth Night,” the shipwrecked main character Viola disguises herself as a page named Cesario and earns the ardor of a countess, even as she really falls in love with a duke. 

Naturally, “Twelfth Night” is a popular choice for the modern era, when transgender, androgynous, gender-queer and non-binary casting is becoming more common. A new production at the Folger Shakespeare Theater goes for broke in this regard, conpounding the confusion hidden in identities. 

Our Viola (a fine Lilli Hokama) is ultimately paired with Orsino (Alyssa Keegan) who loses the “Duke” title but is consistently called sir. Viola, as Cesario, is pursued by Olivia (Alina Collins Maldonado), no longer a Countess in the cast roster, but clearly the lady of the realm. Her ultimate pairing is with Olvia’s brother Sebastian (El Beh, whose listed preferred pronoun choice in the program is “all pronouns ONLY in rotation, otherwise they/them”).

This is a production that lists a “Gender Identity Research Consultant” among the credits. The audience may be moved to consult them. 

The fact that the actors playing the former duke and countess look more like twins than do those portraying the brother and sister — to the degree that nobody on stage was supposed to be able to tell them apart — only adds to  the jumble. 

Which is fine; the folio’s original subtitle was “or What You Will.” But the freewheeling approach still undercuts the main plot line, where the climactic gender reveal at the end supposedly changes everything. Clearly, these characters were way ahead of them. Even the sea captain Antonio (Todd Scofield) doesn’t just help Sebastian, he also falls in love with him, if only to allow another same-gender kiss. 

“Twelfth Night” is meant as a comedy first and foremost, and most of that occurs within the horseplay of the supporting players. Among them, Sir Toby Belch (Che Kabia), perhaps for his name alone, if not his drinking exploits, was once thought to be the most colorful of them. And though he’s got some solid outfitting from Costume Designer Olivera Gajic, he has his equal in the plaid-wearing fop of Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Hunter Ringsmith), who with Olivia’s personal servant Maria (Shubhangi Kuchibhotla) scheme to prank Malvolio (comic highlight Nicholas Yenson) that Olivia is interested in him.

So overt are the antics of this gang that the clowning of the jester Feste (Futaba) doesn’t so much stand out among them as fit right in (although the costuming by Gajic — with a gown of gentleman’s neckties and a fabulous pointed wig by Amanda Miller add verve).

Feste also gets to do most of the singing in a play that originated the line “If music be the food of love play on.” Mostly, it’s the verses from old folk ballads Shakespeare put in the play, as adapted by composer Be Steadwell, whose main flourishes are above-stage drums by Erika Johnson and the odd inclusion of The Cure’s “Lovesong” at one point.

The other famous line from “Twelfth Night” is “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them,” which is repeated more than once, and usually, as you can imagine, with a big thrusting of the hips. 

Director Mei Ann Teo admits that “the guiding question in the rehearsal room is: What would RuPaul do?” 

Such guidance leads to an over-the-top approach, not just in costuming but in expression and line delivery, often broadcast live in jittery onstage projections (by Hao Bai) upon a brutalist set by David I. Reynoso. 

For all the talk by dramaturgs about grief and loss embedded in the play (perhaps a reflection of the grief and loss in arts funding and D.C. cultural institutions in the current era), there’s little room for such subtlety when playing this broadly.

At the same time, the cast is condensed, such that the character of Fabian seems entirely  subsumed into that of Maria. There are so few extra hands that cast members have to sub as policemen late in the show, and when a cast member isn’t available for that, someone just waves a police hat, pushing the action into commedia dell’arte territory if not farce. 

That breach may have already been crossed during a sword fight that involve feathers, sassy riding crops and candy-striped floggers instead of steel blades. What would RuPaul do, indeed? 

Still, the language of Shakespeare alone, whose words provide the very pillar of the notable library holding  the stage, is such that it provides a solid undergirding that’s remains both relevant centuries later and ultimately resistant to however saucily it’s handled. 

Running time: Two hours, 30 minutes including one 15-minute intermission. 

Photo credit: El Beh as Sebastian, Che Kabia as Sir Toby Belch and Hunter Ringsmith as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in “Twelfth Night.” Photo by Erika Nizborski.