Jul. 05, 2011 - Issue #820: Bestest of Edmonton
Revue
Twelfth Night
Fuzzy sexual confusion!
Twelfth Night is one of those plays by the good ol' Bard where you have to accept a girl passing unnoticed as she disguises herself as a guy. You must allow the lady-looks-like-a-dude premise, as it is the root cause of the shenanigans and consequent misunderstandings in this summer's featured comedy at the Freewill Shakespeare Festival. In this case, it's our gal Viola (Julia Guy) who decides to dress as her supposedly dead brother Sebastian (Perry Gratton) in the foreign land of Illyria to gain a position in the local Duke's (Nathan Cuckow) service.
Ever the romantic, Shakespeare has his characters falling in love faster then you can recite a sonnet—and so Viola, disguised, is charged with wingman-ing for the Duke, conveying his high esteem for the Countess Olivia (Annette Loiselle). But, instead, Viola falls in love with the Duke. Meanwhile, she does such a good job of playing the charismatic man, she charms Olivia to her favour, not the Duke's. The result is some fuzzy sexual confusion.
It's convoluted, but so are most of Shakespeare's comedies and it falls to the actors to convey each relationship and motivation. While the cast of Freewill are all real champions of the ye olde English language, some phrases didn't feel quite comfortable yet, so the audience warmed up to the scenario slowly. But by the time Freewill vet Belinda Cornish commandeers the stage as Fabiana, the mischievous sidekick of Olivia's drunken Uncle, Sir Toby Belch (John Wright), the characters settle and the laughter picks up.
While many of the secondary characters, like the Countess's fool, Feste (Chris Bullough), and manservant, Malvolio (Troy O'Donnell), really extend themselves to deliver the laughs, and even the more poignant moments, the highest praise for this production must be reserved for costume designer Narda McCarroll and her wardrobe assistant Sheena Haug. The Steampunk-themed outfits that the cast sports with seemingly much pleasure are gorgeously fanciful. Lush, colourful silks and satins are layered and hooked about the more affluent characters, while the fools stomp around in the well-worn leathers and stiff cargo pants of adventurers. They are captivating in and of themselves. Perfectly convoluted for such a convoluted comedy.
Until Sun, Jul 24 (odd dates, 8 pm; weekend matinees, 2 pm)
Heritage Amphitheatre (Hawrelak Park), $16.75 – $24.50 (festival passes $37)
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