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diversions
Players' 'Twelfth
Night' not as clear as day
By Marten Lewerth
On-line Forty-Niner
Arguably Shakespeare's most popular comedy, "Twelfth
Night" revolves around themes of deception and mistaken
identity. This timeless tale of shipwrecked twins Viola and
Sebastian and their adventures in Illyria has delighted audiences
for hundreds of years and is now showing at the Studio Theatre
at Cal State Long Beach.
The basic story is a familiar one. Believing Sebastian to
be lost at sea, Viola decides in her grief to disguise herself
as a man named Cesario so that she can work for Duke Orsino,
the ruler of the land in which she is stranded.
Orsino is infatuated with the countess Olivia, who is busy
mourning over the recent loss of her brother. Olivia has no
interest in Orsino, but he persists in wooing her and sends
Viola, disguised as Cesario, to press the matter. Low and
behold, Olivia falls in love with Cesario while Viola falls
for the Duke, and so begins the confusion.
Add to that a hilarious sub-plot involving Olivia's manservant
Malvolio, and the basic stage of "Twelfth Night"
is set. The University Players' production, which runs
through Dec. 1, is a faithful rendition of Shakespeare's text
and is unique in two specific areas.
Under director Adrian Giurgea, no words or scenes are cut,
leading to a three-hour performance with two intermissions.
This respect for Shake-speare's work is success-fully accented
by the modernistic touches of setting the time period in the
1930s and the incorporation of the Rolling Stones' early '60s
hit, "As Tears Go By," throughout the performance.
The costumes, as designed by Ellen Pittman Stockbridge, are
stylish and tasteful, and reminiscent of those worn in the
noir-ish detective movies of yesteryear. Interestingly enough,
updating the time period doesn't distract one bit from the
play.
The inclusion of the Stones' song is much more of a surprise,
but it seems to fit right in with the proceedings as well.
The 20 cast members all do a fine job with the difficult task
of bringing Shakespeare's language to life, but a few distinguish
themselves with especially strong performances.
The two female leads, Julie Alexandria Schwartz (Viola) and
Michelle Giannoulis (Olivia), come off as completely comfortable
with the material and the heightened emotional aspects of
their roles.
On the other side, Jason Maximillian Weissbrod is outstanding
as the "wise" fool Feste, as is Philip Van Hest
as Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch.
The only knock against the production of "Twelfth Night"
is that it's sometimes difficult to decipher what a few of
the actors are saying. As the seating surrounds the stage
in a u-shape, the actors move about freely as not to favor
any one side. Because of this, there are instances when words
and often complete sentences are lost in a muffled garble.
Another small problem is that some of the cast members either
speak very quickly or don't pay special attention to enunciation,
making it difficult for audience members to digest Shake-speare's
words coherently. For those familiar with the play, this may
not be a concern, but first-timers with little or no grasp
of the work may wind up more confused than when they entered
the theater.
Taken as a whole, however, the University Players' production
of "Twelfth Night" is a satisfying update that will
probably appeal most to those already familiar with the Great
Bard's text.
"The Twelfth Night" showtimes are as follows: Nov.
17 2 and 8 p.m., Nov. 27 - 29 6 p.m., Nov. 30 8 p.m. and Dec.
1 2 and 8 p.m. All tickets are priced at $12. One may call
(562) 985-8000 for more information.
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Keith
Ian Polakoff
Duke
Orsino, Stewart Baxter, confronts Olivia, Michelle Giannoulis,
in the climatic final scene of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth
Night."
The University Players' cast of "Twelfth
Night" include, from left to right, Justin Shideler,
Julie Alexandria Schwartz, Stewart Baxter, Michelle Giannoulis
and Jaime Nuno Alvarez.
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