Romance For Christmas: Shakespeare Theatre's Twelfth Night
With all the lush romanticism going on over at Shakespeare Theater's Harman Center, you'd think it were Valentine's Day, not the Christmas season.
Director Rebecca Bayla Taichman's production of Twelfth Night is one big over-the-top ode to love, and the result is delightful rather than saccharine. The set's backdrop is all dramatic, supersized roses, and petals cascade from the ceiling each time a character becomes lovestruck (an effect that initially seems schmaltzy, but is later done with enough tongue-in-cheek zest to woo any cynic). The mood is set through Miranda Hoffman's glorious costumes as well, with grief-struck Olivia's attendants shifting from black gowns to brilliant red in the second act, and the newly-smitten mourner herself donning a different bright colored dress in each subsequent scene.
Taichman has not only color to play with as an expressive tool; music weaves throughout this production, from melancholy little ballads from the court's fool (the masterful Floyd King) and frequent, lovely accompaniment coming from a soprano in the rafters (Stacey Cabaj). It's perhaps not surprising; after all, this is the work which opens famously with the ever-quotable "If music be the food of love, play on!", uttered by a distraught, enamored Orsino (Christopher Innvar).
Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's comedy of twins, mistaken identity and practical jokes, is arguably the Bard's silliest play, and even while this production emphasizes the romance, it also pays keen attention to making the most of comedic moments. Much of the slapstick falls in the hands of the prancing, sputtering Tom Story as Sir Andrew Aguecheek; Story seems to be making quite the career for himself this year out of increasingly foppish characters. Adding to the laughs is Ted van Griethuysen as the much put-upon Malvolio, but Griethuysen surprises by making his laughingstock particularly heartrending — just try not to get a little choked up as Malvolio gleefully "discovers" his mistress loves him, knowing that it's all just a vengeful joke.
Much of the fun of Twelfth Night is seeing the distraught Olivia quickly transform into a simpering state once she falls for the messenger (Samantha Soule) of the man who courts her, whom we know is actually a woman in disguise. As Olivia, Veanne Cox, always an actress to throw herself into a role without vanity, commits herself fully to the amusing desperation of Olivia's state. Soule's impersonation of a man is just convincing enough to be buyable while still feminine enough to credibly warrant the confused attentions of Orsinio, even if her constantly grinning and laughing visage seems occasionally out of place. It's a treat to see her and Innvar play off each other; after her true identity is revealed, he begins to unwrap her garments as if part of a dance, a perfect mischievous touch in this impishly sexy play.
Twelfth Night runs through Jan. 4 at Shakespeare Theatre's Harman Center. Tickets are available online.