Keaton Johns

Dr. Scott Knowles

THEA 1303

31 October 2016

Performance Critique- Twelfth Night

SUUs 2016 production of Twelfth Night was intriguing, genuine, and very fun. The

concept was very clever and inventive, the actors excelled in their performances, the designs

were beautiful, and the text was interpreted very well.

The director's concept of setting the play in 1960s Trinidad was very beneficial to the

storytelling of the play; it gave the audience a familiar, yet distant culture as the lens for this

piece. The freshness of 1960s Trindad gives it a more modern flair while still giving us a foreign

culture that we can invest in. It made many of the character dynamics more relatable and more

meaningful. While Orsino and Olivia are still referred as Duke and Countess textually, it felt

more like they were people of wealth and power more than people of name and rank, which

makes their struggles more human to us. Although Viola was still under the service of Orsino, it

felt like they had a much more casual and informal relationship which helps their love story be

more accessible. It made the play much easier to understand because Twelfth Night for me

doesnt have much action and in turn can be hard to follow. I understood very clearly who was

who and what they were meant to do, and I think its thanks to the concept of the production.

Everyone in the cast brought something fresh to the play which I really enjoyed. Viola

and Sebastian, played by Lauren Hoover and Alex Greig respectively, are not your typical male

and female ingenue you would expect from normal casting of the twins. Their resemblance was

very convincing, especially with Hoovers boy haircut, and it was a nice change to see realistic
people on the stage. Hoover was captivating as Viola and commanded the stage; I was invested

in her character and finally was engaged in the journey that Viola takes. Duke Orsino, played by

Trevor Messenger, had a whole new light shed on him with this portrayal. As it was set in the

Caribbean, Orsino was interpreted as a chill Rastafarian man. The lax attitude that Messenger

gave off made Orsino a more dynamic character and gave him a comic air that I had never seen.

Olivia, played by Hannah Fontes, was also interpreted differently than most would expect. Olivia

was much more casual and spunky than normal, and I felt it worked with the concept and with

what Fontes wanted to achieve with Olivia. Sir Toby Belch, played by Henry Ballesteros, was

finally brought into the light for me in this production. Ive always found the subplot with Toby

Belch, Andrew Aguecheek, and Maria to be superfluous, but Ballesteros brought a new

villainous light to Belch which made him stand out more. He made the bold choice of making

Toby a genuinely evil man rather that the archetypal drunken fool, and he should be commended

for it; it adds so much weight to that subplot. Aguecheek, played by Maxwell Kunz, was as

entertaining as always, but this time I felt he was dependent on Toby Belch for what he does

instead of being ridiculous all on his own. I enjoyed that buddy-comedy aspect of their

relationship. The character that stood out most in this production was Malvolio, portrayed so

wonderfully by Kade Cox. Cox was the most ready vocally, textually, and theatrically of the

whole cast, and it showed. You could not take your eyes off of him when he was onstage; he was

so present and energetic and hysterical as Malvolio. He made it so easy to empathize with

Malvolio; although we are happy that the couples are united in the end, we are really devastated

that Malvolio doesnt get Olivia and we feel bad that he was treated so poorly by Toby Belch and

his gang. Cox was the star of the show for me, but the whole cast came together and told the

story beautifully.
 The concept of 1960s Trinidad is very fun, and it gave the designers a lot to work with.

The costumes, designed by Steve G. Schmid, instantly transported us to the Caribbean with the

accessible 1960s beach wear we all know and love. The ensemble mainly wore the beach wear

which gave the feel of the setting as the ensemble represents the community. Orsino wore a

white suit with his brown dreadlocks to show his sense of power, but it still felt Caribbean.

Olivia wore a gorgeous, chic black funeral dress at the beginning, then acquired a 1960s poof

and an orange beach dress for the later sections of the play, which made her captivating to watch.

Viola and Sebastian wore identical white & blue boat-suits which also gave a very 1960s feel.

The scenic design by Brian Beacom was interesting, to say the least; the set was covered with

sails to evoke the feeling of being on a ship and an island. It gave more of a pirate feel than a

beach feel for me, but I understood the design and it brought me to the island. The music

composed by Trent Dahlin was exceptional; he wrote easy tunes for Feste to sing with familiar

passages that we identify with as reggae to make it very enjoyable. He wrote a gorgeous four-

part harmony song for Olivias court near the beginning, and I was impressed to hear such

maturity in a young composers work. The designs definitely enhanced the productions concept,

and made for an enjoyable experience.

This production made the bold choice of using an unedited script, which I thought to be

brave. While its not Shakespeares longest piece, I feel some parts are worthy of being cut to

make a more precise plot. As I said earlier, the concept and the choices made by actors made the

text easier to understand which I appreciated. There were many short ad libs said by actors,

especially Hoover as Viola, that took me out of the play. Although we are in a modern setting,

the convention of using Shakespeares language had been established, and to hear modern quips

was very jarring for me. They were often used for comedic moments; I would rather seek for
comedy within the text to make a moment. The majority of the cast seemed to have a handle on

the script and understood what they were saying; a few didnt commit and werent present, but

not enough to ruin the experience.

I was very pleased with this production of Twelfth Night and its take on the story. I never

really appreciated how good of a story it was until I saw this production, and developed a new

love for it. I wish I was able to see it more than once, but I will remember the time I did see it as

being an enjoyable and enriching experience.