What could Shakespeare possibly have in common with the late 1960s? Enough, as it turns out, to transform the Bard’s “Twelfth Night” – a comedy of mistaken identity and misdirected love – into a dream of romantic longing and melancholic healing.
In director Terry Dodd’s account, shipwrecked Viola lands on a strange shore populated by stoners, mods, and hip nobles – all awash in desire and mischief – where she poses as a man to regain her bearings and find her way home. Rather than a literal shipwreck, though, Dodd employs Viola’s lost-at-sea voyage as a metaphor for her despondence over separation from her twin brother Sebastian, a soldier whom she fears dead in Vietnam.
Like the imaginary characters drawn from Alice’s rabbit hole in Wonderland, an amusing assortment of behaviorally challenged illusions lurks in Viola’s closet and under her bed, periodically making their appearance during her dreams.
Alternately breezy and introspective, L. Corwin Christie’s Viola is a woman for all seasons – well-spoken, intelligent, in touch with her feelings and respectful of others – whose genial sharing of heartfelt intimacies invests the audience in her plight.
The Duke of Orsino, in whose entourage she lands, is a brooding poet, much in the manner of Doors front man Jim Morrison (whose poster is one of many pop icons adorning Sarah Roshan’s utilitarian set).
Sheathed in a rock star’s leather pants and sporting other accessories popularized by the British Invasion, Gregory J. Adams, as Orsino, paints a romantic picture of entitlement and pleasure associated with the stratospheric domain of celebs and royals. Orsino sets Viola about wooing the chic Olivia.
Appearing in a series of stunning period outfits, from faux-Elizabethan ruffles on a mod equivalent of the little black dress to an eye-popping vinyl Twiggy knockoff, Stephanie Jones’ Olivia poses a regal, yet impassioned, challenge for Viola’s pleadings on the Duke’s behalf. Jones grounds Olivia in crisp diction and adorns her with the come-
hither, devil-may-care attitude so prevalent during the setting’s permissive decade.
As is the case with so many Shakespearean comedies, a parallel plot lambastes a series of personalities with whom the playwright had a beef.
Here, Harry Cruzan sparkles as the mean-spirited Malvolio, who is led to believe his mistress, Olivia, pines for him. He is thereby made a fool at the hands of Wade Wood’s gravelly souse, Sir Toby Belch, and Lisa Rosenhagen’s flower-child, Maria. David Saphier’s rustic Sir Andrew Aguecheek simply makes a fool of himself, while Theresa Reid’s puckish Feste, who exacts payment in dove-tail joints, presides as ringmaster for this circus.
While Dodd’s ’60s conceit generally fits with the story, there are some rough edges, particularly the forced Vietnam War-related plot devices, which alter the ending and confuse the relationship between Antonio and Sebastian – a case of the tail wagging the dog. The ensemble also exhibits varying elocutionary talent for the text. Yet with solid leading performances boosted by El Armstrong’s oldies-but-goodies soundtrack and Susan Lyles’ costumes, the “entertainment” – originally commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I – wins out.
Bob Bows also reviews theater for Variety, for KUVO/89.3 FM and for his website. He can be reached at BBows@ColoradoDrama.com. For a longer version of this review, visit coloradodrama.com.
“Twelfth Night” | *** RATING
COMEDY|Denver Victorian Playhouse|Written by William
Shakespeare|Directed by Terry Dodd|Starring L. Corwin Christie, Theresa Reid, Stephanie Jones, Harry Cruzan, Wade Wood, Gregory J. Adams, David Saphier, and Lisa Rosenhagen|At the Denver Victorian Playhouse, 4201 Hooker St.|THROUGH FEB. 17|Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2 p.m.|2 hours, 45 minutes| $16-$20|303-433-4343
3more
“1001” The world premiere of Jason Grote’s riff on the “Arabian Nights” stories. 6:30 p.m. Mondays-Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays, 1:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays through Feb. 24 at the Space Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex. $36-$46 (303-893-4100, 866-464-2626, all King Soopers or denvercenter.org; 800-641-1222 outside Denver).
“DIRTY STORY” John Patrick Shanley presents the U.S. role in the Arab-Israel conflict as a campy sadomasochistic love quadrangle. 7:30 p.m. Fridays- Saturdays (some Thursdays, Sundays) through March 10 at the Bas Bleu Theatre, 401 Pine St., Fort Collins. $10-$19 (970-498-8949 or bas bleu.org).
“DIRTY BLONDE” Claudia Shear’s hybrid comedy, presented by Theatre Group, is part Mae West docudrama, love story and vaudeville. Stars Kristine Pound. 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through March 10 at 13 S. Broadway. $15 (303-777-3292 or theatregroup.org).
–John Moore
