Twelfth Night (1987)

One of Shakespeare's most popular and enduring comedies--TWELFTH NIGHT--gets the full treatment in this acclaimed production by the Renaissance Theatre Company and acclaimed director Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing).

An enchanting diversion

Twelfth Night is one of the Comedies, meaning a light piece intended to divert and amuse. The premise is simple enough: near-identical siblings, a youth and a maiden of noble birth, are shipwrecked and thanks to the actions of benign protectors end up unbeknownst to each other in the same foreign country Illyria, each thinking the other drowned.

Viola, the maiden, casting off her "woman's weeds" takes the guise of a young man and enters into service of the Count Orsino, who is attempting to woo his love-object the fair Olivia. Viola, in her guise as Cesario, is dispatched to press Orsino's cause. Instead, Olivia falls in love with Viola/Cesario while Viola/Cesario falls in love with her master Orsino. Meanwhile Sebastian, Viola's brother, slowly makes his way towards the love-triangle that is developing in his absence. A classic comedy of mistaken identity, in other words, with a plot-line that could be leaden and obvious to a fault.

But this play charms instead of grates because the comedic parts are so wonderfully portrayed. The jester Feste is perfect and Richard Briars gives a once-in-a-lifetime performance as the egregious Malvolio and accomplishes a minor miracle in causing us to feel real sympathy for him in the last act.

Of course this is old-world drama and anyone who expects the twin leads of Viola and Sebastian to resemble each other as near-identical will be grievously disappointed. This is, after all, theatre and entertainment. It was written to be performed in the afternoon to an audience rapt with the consumption of hot pies and with their attention straying to games of cards and dice. We are a long way from Hollywood here. So a viewer unaccustomed to Shakespeare or Ben Johnson or Kitt or Webster is likely to be unimpressed. Yet listen a moment to the words, to the lyric beauty that even after four hundred years can stir the soul, and suddenly it doesn't seem so silly that Olivia falls under the spell of Cesario's golden tongue. Set aside the desire for fast-paced action scenes and in a trice Malvolio's wretched loneliness and sense of grievance leaps to the fore and we acknowledge that his punishment exceeded his offence. In other words, allow yourself to experience this play as it was meant to be experienced, and the result is magical.

While not all the cast quits itself majestically, all performances are worthy and the over-arching effect is totally satisfying. We are not here for the sturm und drang of Othello or Hamlet or Macbeth; we are here for gentle sorrow and love requited in the end. Shakespeare takes a flimsy plot device and has crafted it into a vehicle for the tender exploration of loneliness, of personal isolation, and of redemption through love. For what it is, it is perfectly done and to be treasured like a fine old wine. July 29, 2008

Very Disappointing....

This was a pretty poor interpretation of one of Shakespeare's more brilliant works. These actors, as a whole, seemed to have NOT spent enough time learning what their lines actually mean, because their delivery is pitiful and dull. Too often we are "treated" to just a simple regurgitation of memorized lines rather than acting.

Lesser totally butchers the role of Feste, blowing through lines with absolutely NO thought and no inflection, just vomiting forth the lines and portraying a very complex character as just a blithering idiot.

Ravenscroft plays the role of Orsino as if he is on sedatives, and reveals almost NO emotion whatsoever - he frankly seems bored and is only walking through the role.

Malvolio is rather drab and uninspiring, and I had little feelings for him either way. He neither inspires hatred nor pity, and renders a rather one-dimensional and dull character.

Sir Andrew and Olivia pretty much carry this production, with Maria and Fabian also doing decently well. Their performances and are the only parts that really make it worth seeing, but I would NOT recommend this one for anyone wanting to see/understand Twelfth Night for the first time. Instead, get the 1996 movie done by Trevor Nunn - Kingsley and Helene Bonham Carter are BRILLIANT.
April 14, 2008

Bold and Provocative

Branagh, who is among the leading contemporary interpreters of Shakespeare, is often provocative, if not daring. His production of Twelfth Night is no exception. Some aspects are comfortably traditional. Olivia and Viola are witty and beautiful. Orsino is quite infatuated with love, and perhaps with Olivia. Sir Toby is a model of drunken revelry. Malvolio is a supremely irritating puritanical spoil-sport. However, in Feste, traditionally a lyrical, brooding, idiot savant, Branagh gives us an aging rock star, his voice less sweet, more like Bob Dylan croaking folk wisdom.

Beyond Feste, what makes Branagh's Twelfth Night unique is his decision to set this play about the heat of passionate love not in the Spring or Summer, but in a wintery snow-covered graveyard, literally twelve days after Christmas. (What immediately comes to mind is Branagh's equally bold decision to set his Hamlet in the dead of winter. How could Ophelia crack the ice when she fell in that flowery stream?)

The setting gives new meaning to Orsino's famous opening line, "That strain again, it had a dying fall," and it provides for graveyard humor - wine bottles hidden under tombstones. Branagh's vision takes shape in the snowy scenery like breath crystallizing in ice cold air. Much of the play explores lost or disappointed love. Shipwrecked siblings Viola and Sebastian each mourn the other's drowning. Orsino pines for Olivia, who can only grieve for her dead father and brother. Clueless Sir Andrew, while milked by drinking partner Sir Toby, looks in vain at Olivia for a rich bride. Viola, disguised as Cesario, secretly and hopelessly loves Orsino. Olivia, feeding on rejection, has a crush on Cesario. Antonio thinks he is betrayed by Sebastian. Only debauched Sir Toby, adored by scheming Maria, appears to have a curiously fulfilling relationship. The endlessly twisting plot delivers three happy engagements. However, the audience must wonder if they are firm, or like frozen breath will dissolve with the slightest breeze. Thankfully, brother and sister are reunited. A counterpoise to winter cheer, Branagh torments Malvolio so savagely, the audience must wonder if his rage can ever be soothed, despite Orsino's peacekeeping.

On balance, this worthy production yields more irony than fun. Branagh's choice of winter invites the audience to look past the madcap romance and to reflect on the underside of interlinked, love triangles. I wish he would give us more Shakespeare like this one. January 21, 2008

A Star! A Star!

Mayest one star's guiding Light,
Twinkling o'er the Thames' Twelfth Night,
Point to that "Epiphany"
Portray'd by the BBC--
Wherein thou shalt see given,
Royal Gifts, three, from Heaven,
Unfolding, each, like a flow'r:
Fragrant Love, Wisdom and Pow'r;
And, whereby, the Nobl'st Bard,
Stands, still, Sweet Perfection's Guard!

(The BBC version referred to above is available from Ambrose Video Publishing @ ambrosevideo.com)
January 7, 2008

A rich and moving (though imperfect) production

I'm surprised by some of the strongly negative reviews of this production. I'm not usually a big Kenneth Branagh fan, but this video of a stage production he directed is an extremely thoughtful, probing and moving realization of Shakepeare's play, perhaps one of the first plays for which the term "comedy-drama" seems appropriate. (Branagh didn't direct it for TV, but it is a filming of his production.)

It should be noted that the visual quality sometimes could be a little sharper. Also, it's a video of a stage production (though shot in a studio), and the set design is very stylized (and the design is generally in muted colors). So if you're looking for a Twelfth Night that looks like a movie, this is not it.

As with some of the other film and TV productions of this play, the order of the first two scenes is reversed. The production starts with images of a violent storm preceding the scene between Viola and the Captain, a smart touch.

When we move to the next scene (the first scene in the text), we see that Branagh is taking the title as a clue to the time of year in which to set the play. This is a wintertime Twelfth Night, and a Christmas tree appears prominently in some scenes. But this production is not full of Christmas cheer. It is a rather dark, world-weary and disturbing production of the play. Among other things, Branagh emphasizes the cruel and dangerous side of the various tricks, and the many references to death throughout the play also emerge strongly. If you're looking for a lighthearted production that emphasizes the comedy in the play, this is not it.

The acting is mostly on the naturalistic side, with an uncommon clarity to both the relationships and the language. This is a Shakespeare production in which everyone seems to be talking to each other rather than orating. Also, there is an unusual tension and sense of conflict in the playing of some scenes that are usually treated in a more offhand way.

There's one interesting, offbeat casting choice. Andrew Aguecheek (James Simmons) is tall and gangly, but he is also young, good-looking and less overtly buffoonish than usual, making you understand why Toby might regard him as a plausible suitor for Olivia.

Anton Lesser gives us a complex, self-loathing Feste. He is bitter and downright insolent and resentful toward those on whom he is dependent for money. Indeed, throughout the play I became aware as I had never been before of how much emphasis is placed on money, with the implication that it can corrupt and cheapen relationships.

Christopher Ravenscroft is a particularly neurotic, intense, manic-depressive Orsino, and it is this very oversensitivity that attracts Viola.

Caroline Langrishe's Olivia barely seems to be in mourning, an interesting choice. She is commanding, sophisticated, worldly, yet sensible and likeable. Christopher Hollis is a sensitive, vulnerable Sebastian, making you understand why Antonio wants to protect him, though he doesn't find the comedy in the role.

Abigail McKern is a tart, tough Maria. This is a woman you shouldn't cross, as Malvolio should have realized.

Richard Briers manages the trick that I've seen other Malvolios aim for and not quite achieve: he is both a comic and a tragic figure. Briers (helped by some of Branagh's directorial choices) is devastating in the final scene.

Holding it all together is Frances Barber's empathetic, charming Viola, possessed of an inner radiance that makes you understand why both Orsino and Olivia are drawn to her.

Branagh stages the final scene particularly well. "And the rain it raineth every day" has directorial touches that left me in tears.

There are some problems, starting with the sound. Most of the time it's fine, but in some scenes I kept having to adjust the volume. Also, the music (there's a good deal of underscoring) isn't always well-integrated, and "O Mistress Mine" doesn't work, though the other songs do.

In some of the later scenes, the acting loses its grip a bit. The production's biggest problem is one of tone in some of the later scenes that are traditionally treated as comic. The production has by this time established such a serious tone that the somewhat stagy comic playing of these scenes is jarring. Also, the scenes themselves are played partly seriously and partly comically, and the switches in tone don't work. I suspect these scenes worked better onstage with an audience than they do here.

Still, this is a singularly rewarding Twelfth Night. Very highly recommended. November 29, 2007

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