{"id":3354,"date":"2011-09-30T19:00:14","date_gmt":"2011-10-01T02:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/?p=3354"},"modified":"2011-10-10T11:52:42","modified_gmt":"2011-10-10T18:52:42","slug":"twelfth-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/2011\/09\/twelfth-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Twelfth Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Play (1601-1602)
\nby William Shakespeare <\/p>\n

Directed by Melia Bensussen<\/p>\n

Actors Shakespeare Project<\/a>
\nBoston Center for the Arts
\nBoston, MA<\/p>\n

September 27, 2011 – October 22, 2011<\/p>\n

Production Staff: Cristina Todesco (Scenic Designer), Molly Trainer (Costume Designer), Jason Ries (Lighting Designer\/Production Manager), Ted Hewlett (Violence Designer), Steven Barkhimer (Music Director), Arshan Gailus (Sound Designer), Amber Voner (Hair & Makeup Designer), Phyllis Y. Smith (Stage Manager).<\/p>\n

With Marianna Bassham (Viola), Jesse Hinson (Sebastian), Jason Bown (Orsino), Mara Sidmore (Olivia), Omar Robinson (Sea Captain), James Andreassi (Sir Toby Belch), Paula Langton (Maria), Doug Lockwood (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Steven Barkhier (Feste, the Clown), Allyn Burrows (Malvolio), Omar Robinson (Antonio), Gabriel Graetz (Fabian).<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"<\/a>

David Teniers the Younger, Twelfth Night (The King Drinks)<\/em> (c. 1634-1640)<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n
The cross dressing which gives rise to the confusion between male and female twins is artfully woven in silk in this apotheosis of the Shakespearean farce, given a wonderful rendition here.<\/strong><\/div>\n

Viola and her twin brother, Sebastian, have been in a shipwreck. They both wash ashore unbenownst to the other or even aware that the other has survived. <\/p>\n

Viola enlists the aid of her ship’s captain to help her gain access to the court of the Duke of Orsino (in disguise as a male page named Cesario) and soon becomes a favored emissary to Olivia on Orsino’s behalf. Olivia, who will have nothing to do with Orsino, soon develops – to Viola’s dismay – a passionate fascination with Cesario.<\/p>\n

\"Engraving<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Viola’s affections have fastened on Orsino. That he does not know a woman lies under Cesario’s mask only complicates the fun. <\/p>\n

Twelfth Night<\/em> is a wonderful culmination of certain themes in Shakespeare, put together humorously, often riotously, but artfully and in a balanced way. The confused twins theme shows up as well in The Comedy of Errors<\/em>, but there it is much more farcically executed. In Twelfth Night<\/em>, the narrative obviously has a farcical source, but the weight and implication of the confusion of roles is heartfelt and penetrating in a way it is not in the earlier play. Twelfth Night<\/em> was written eight years after The Comedy of Errors<\/em> (1594) and Shakespeare’s greater refinement in utilizing this plot device shows clearly.<\/strong><\/div>\n

A couple of subplots involving Olivia’s self-righteous steward, Malvolio, her uncle, Sir Toby Belch, and his pal, an unlikely suitor named Sir Andrew Aguecheek, ensue. <\/p>\n

After attenuated coiling of romantic springs, Sebastian turns up on the scene, unbeknownst to Viola. After much confusion by everyone between Sebastian and Viola-as-Cesario, the romantic allegiances finally set themselves straight.<\/p>\n

\"Constantin<\/a>

<Constantin Brancusi, The Kiss<\/em> (1908)<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n

The Actors’ Shakespeare Project has done wonderful work over the seven years since its inception. It presents three or four plays per season, almost all by Shakespeare, but occasionally by others. And it has, much more often than not, stressed simplicity of set and design to enable focus on acting and direction, with consistently excellent results. It has offered its productions in a diverse variety of venues around the Boston area, always interesting, providing access to local populations in all corners of the city. <\/p>\n

\"Duality<\/a><\/p>\n

This production is a gem. <\/p>\n

The simplicity of the ASP productions has often made their work in smaller spaces feel more successful. They are essentially an intimate company and the compactess of the staging space can enable that quality to emerge. <\/p>\n

In the Plaza Theatre at the Boston Center For the Arts, where this production is staged, the space is compact (but adequate) and the effect is wonderful.<\/p>\n

\"Road<\/a><\/p>\n

Wonderful direction and staging were evident throughout this production. The music was superbly conceived and integrated. And the interpretive innovation of portraying the Clown and Malvolio as twins of a sort was a stroke of genius.<\/p>\n

\"Omar<\/a>

Omar Robinson as the Sea Captain, Marianna Bassham as Viola
\nPhoto by Stratton McCrady, courtesy of Actors’ Shakespeare Project.<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n

Marianna Bassham as Viola was strikingly good. How effectively and subtly she managed to convey a convincing boy-man and a sensitive woman all in one was remarkable. <\/p>\n

Interestingly, as a way of conveying the confusion of identity, this production appeared to have Viola saying some of Sebastian’s lines along the way; Bassham carried that off very well also. However, in the end, when Jesse Hinson took over the role of Sebastian, he did it with compelling gusto and no diminution of appeal.<\/p>\n

\"Steven<\/a>

Steven Barkhimer as Feste, Paula Langton as Maria
\nPhoto by Stratton McCrady, courtesy of Actors’ Shakespeare Project.<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n

Steven Barkhimer as Feste, Olivia’s clown, was first rate as well. He was bawdy, but articulately so, and a great guitarist and singer to boot. He was also the musical director for the show; in general, the miscellaneous musical settings were artfully conceived and executed.<\/p>\n

\"Allyn<\/a>

Allyn Burrows as Malvolio
\nPhoto by Stratton McCrady, courtesy of Actors’ Shakespeare Project.<\/small><\/center><\/p>\n

Allyn Burrows, the artistic director of the company, was a very good, very histrionically funny, Malvolio. He adroitly captured the full range of the role’s requirements, from the uptight butler (with rigid poise) to the loony-tunes lover in yellow knickers.<\/p>\n

James Andreassi, who starred as Antony in last spring’s Antony and Cleopatra<\/em>, had a good turn here as Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s uncle. Working well alongside Doug Lockwood (Sir Andrew Aguecheek) and Steven Barkhimer (Feste, The Clown), the entire wild comic team held its raucous own.<\/p>\n

Mara Sidmore (Olivia) was appropriately confused and passionate. And, Jason Bown (Orsino) and Omar Robinson (Antonio) were fine supports.<\/p>\n

This was a great, very funny, but beautifully conceived production of a wonderful comic Shakespearean masterpiece. Melia Bensussen, the director, and the entire company, are to be commended for mounting this little jewel.<\/p>\n

– BADMan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Play (1601-1602) by William Shakespeare Directed by Melia Bensussen Actors Shakespeare Project Boston Center for the Arts Boston, MA September 27, 2011 – October 22, 2011 Production Staff: Cristina Todesco (Scenic Designer), Molly Trainer (Costume Designer), Jason Ries (Lighting Designer\/Production Manager), Ted Hewlett (Violence Designer), Steven Barkhimer (Music Director), Arshan Gailus (Sound Designer), Amber Voner […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3354","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-plays","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3354"}],"version-history":[{"count":92,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3624,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3354\/revisions\/3624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bostonartsdiary.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}