Shakespeare's Twelfth Night Performed
by: Cindy Justis
Oh Nov. 11,1989, on the mflin stage of
Jones Auditorium at Meredith College, the
N(Htli Carolina Shate^)eare Fetival taught
to life a fairly faithful version of William
Shake^)eare’s Twelfth Night for a capacity
audirace. The tale of the cruelly separated
twins and the misadventures of Viola while
searching for her brother remained true to
much of Shakespeare’s text, while still al
lowing the creativity of both director and
actors to shine.
The setting was sin^)le and traditional.
Four moveable partitions allowed the ac~
tors to transform Count Orsino's mansion
into an Illyrian street into the garden at Ol
ivia’s estate. An elaborate facade of Ol
ivia's house and a few benches completed
the set. Most entrances and exits were
made from either the house or the upstage
wings. Unfortunately for myself and those
around me, the convenient partitions com
pletely blocked the entire upstage area, and
we missed the most important entrances
and exits.
As a comedy, the play was literally a
howling success. Many of our more distin
guished patrons maintained a little more
dignity than I did, however. The tempo was
quick and sharp; nevertheless, the audience
missed little of the verbal humor thanks to
the clear diction and expression of the ac
tors. The most memorable moments of the
whole play were comedic ones: the en
trance of the yellow-stockinged, cross-gar
tered Malvolio (even though I couldn’t see
it), the mad ravings of Sir Anthony “Ague-
fece,” and the bawdy, intelligent, humor
ous banter of Feste the clown. If laughter
were the only goal of the production, it
earned its pay many times over, especiaUy
on the row where 1 was sitting.
I believe that laughter was one of the
most important goals of this comedy;
however, I also believe that Shakespeare
wanted his audience to think as well as
laugh. This is where I had a few problems
with this production. First of all, I was
baffled by the director’s decision to mod
ernize the costumes. The men’s suits and
even some of the women’s dresses ap
peared to be out of the 1920s. Both Sir
Toby and Antonio wore knit sweaters.
Olivia’s second dress was only diin-length.
The officers of Illyria looked like a cross
between New York’s Guardian Angels and
KGB agents. Why would a production so
traditional in its other elements vary in its
costuming? Another problem 1 had was
with some of the actors. Neither of the
twins impressed me greatly. Viola’s dic
tion was too lofty and affected compared to
the ease with which other cast members
inteipreted Shakespeare's lines. She also
did not strike me as truly being in love with
Orsino, even during her soliloquies. I must,
however, give her credit for her very con
vincing masculine demeanor. Sebastian,
her brother, cam.e off as being very dull,
wimpy, and stupid. Thus, when be
suposedly beats up Toby and Andrew, it is
not believable. Witti such an unappealing
pair as leads, I was not cheering them
toward their reunion as I felt I should have
been.
However, despite these few hitches,
the performance was worthwhile and en
joyable due to some top-notch perform
ances by David Snizek, Graham F. Smith,
Lucius Houghton, and Allan Hickle-Ed-
wards. Snizek portrayed Malvolio with
ease and skill. We all despised him while
he was a Puritan, ridiculed him while he
was a fool, and pitied him while he was a
laughingstock (which I wasn't sure we were
supposed to do). Smith’s Sir Andrew was
so incredibly ludicrous that he was the
perfect foil to Houghton's Bruce Willis
version of Sir Toby. I did not realize just
from the play how often Toby mocks and
takes advantage ofhis witless friend. And
Hickle-Edwards as Feste offers a running
commentary on all the action with his bit
ing wit and his penchant for breaking into
song.
Overall, this play does what I think
every good play, book, movie, or anything
of that nature should do — it makes me
wish it would not end. I want to know what
happens to the characters because I have
grown to know them. Unfortunately,
Shakespeare can't help me out there. But I
have diis great idea for a sequel. It’s called
Thirteenth Night: Malvolio's Revenge.
Any interested backers?
IVIeredith Opened New Road on Nov. 20
(photos by St4san Cartrene)