Review: Theatre 40’s “Twelfth Night” a worthy alternative to Globe’s
By Alex Wen
Oct. 22, 2003 9:00 p.m.
Somewhere in the middle of Theatre 40’s energetic,
spirited performance of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth
Night,” (not to be confused with the Globe Theatre version)
the servant Fabian (Rachael Lyerla) momentarily steps toward the
audience, cheekily pulls down her character’s elasticized
Jewish beard and joyously declares, “If this were played upon
a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable
fiction.”
Director Steven Williams, abetted by a more-than-able cast,
seizes on this one line and turns his rendition into a
theaterfest of metadramatic madness. The program slyly offers
the clue, “The Scene: A stage in a theatre,” to suggest
what’s truly at play here.
Williams’ “Twelfth Night,” which opened Monday
at the intimate Reuben Cordova Theatre is not, however, a
one-trick, one-note rendering. The ensemble of six actors, working
with intricate commedia routines, manic costume changes, foreign
accents and character types to help delineate their multiple
personalities, inhabit their roles with gusto. The many role
switching gags were, with minor exceptions, well-performed, in
particular Jaxon Duff Gwillim’s Sebastian/Aguecheek and John
Comb’s Toby Belch/Duke Orsino.
Even though Comb’s stuttering, paunchy Belch lacked the
resolve to instigate himself, let alone others, his Orsino was
suitably imperious, and the switch itself was quite remarkable. To
aid in the doubling, a wooden effigy of a character and a hand
puppet ““ no, muppet ““ were also deployed for good
measure.
Michael Bonnabel’s Malvolio, a French Bohemian Bill Murray
on some kind of drug, was a study in comic timing, effectively
reduced to a curiously piteous figure by the play’s end.
One of the production’s undoubted highlights (enough to
outnumber its faults) was the luminous Yael Berkovich. Berkovich,
evidently trained at the London Globe Theatre (according to the
program notes) is a rare and precious delight, and has that rare
ability to captivate the audience with the slightest of efforts. As
Feste, the melancholic clown, Berkovich proves, among other things,
to be a superlative minstrel singer, and director Williams
unabashedly makes full use of her musical talents. Berkovich also
quadruples as the production’s sound effects person,
performing to the side of the stage in full view of the audience
““ a clever and effective coup de theater if the audience
response was anything to go by.
Opening two days ahead of the much lauded London Globe Theatre
performance of the same play, Theatre 40’s “Twelfth
Night” runs the unfortunate risk of being steamrolled by an
internationally acclaimed juggernaut that has sauntered into town
with all the hoopla of a Broadway musical. By comparison to the
Globe, however, this smallish undertaking, is not without its own
ambitions. With its Brechtian set changes, bold strokes, zany
characterization and overall theatrical zest, Theatre 40’s
“Twelfth Night” might just be different enough to
recommend itself as a viable alternative interpretation. It’s
a production that’s not by any stretch perfect, but the
overall performance has a way of making you forget that.
““ Alex Wen
