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Wednesday, January 30,2008
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Shipwrecked in Illyria
Theater Review
Thispast weekend, Milwaukee Shakespeare’s production of Twelfth Night transported
audiences to a modern-day Illyria that resembled an upscale coastal
resort. And Brian Gill, brisk and dapper in a linen suit, made for a
rather cheery Orsino. If his heart did indeed nurse the bruises of an
unrequited love, he did a jolly good job of hiding it.
His
spirits seemed to buoy themselves remarkably well against the “fell and
cruel hounds” of desire. Nothing could be more at odds with his sleek
composure than Viola’s ruffled and agitated appearance when she lands
shipwrecked at his shore. In fact, her entrance marked one of the
greatest contrasts in this otherwise even-toned production. The whole
evening erred little from pasteltoned decorum, notwithstanding the
riotous habits of the ancillary characters.
The Illyria
portrayed here strikes you as a limbo populated by characters who seem
unaware of it being so. Despite repeatedly asking themselves and each
other “are you mad,” or “am I dreaming,” they seemed to think the
matter hardly warranted any real investigation. There was little
display of inner conflict, languishing for want of love, or being
visibly transformed on receipt of it. This indifference of spirit
reached its pinnacle when Sebastian (Kevin Rich), Viola’s twin brother,
happily cast off any prior attachments to become Olivia’s husband
toward the end of the play.
Viola was one of the emotional
mainstays of the evening, as was perhaps intended by Shakespeare.
Alexis McGuinness threw herself into the role with feeling and warmth,
even if she skipped too freely over some of her most celebrated lines.
It is telling that her only other rival in earnest emotion was the
relatively minor character of Antonio. Todd Denning didn’t overplay his
character’s homoerotic relationship with Sebastian, but made the
strength of his feelings clear all the same. Meanwhile Malvolio’s (Mark
Dold) show-stealing capers were often overwhelmingly camp. Though
magisterial some of the time, and highly entertaining all of the time,
he resembled a peevish maitre d’ rather than a dour prude, with
flourishes of manner and speech that invited many laughs but little
sympathy. Even his final wretched outburst provoked some furtive
tittering in the audience, reinforcing the fact that some of that
subtle play between comedy and pathos was lost here.
It was
Feste, played by Robert Spencer, who best captured those nuances
between heedless joy and mindful reflection. What’s more, he delivered
his lines with such ease you’d think Shakespearean rhyme and meter was
his native tongue. One of the greatest ironies of Twelfth Night is
that the clown is the wisest character in the play. One of the greatest
ironies of this production was that the man who played the clown
delivered the subtlest performance.
Milwaukee Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night runs through Feb. 3 at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center in Brookfield.
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