‘12th Night’ delights despite puzzling plot

By Nicole Southern

Despite a show that is confusing in its own right, the cast of Twelfth Night delivered a performance that appealed to the audience because of its sarcasm and humor. While the plot may have needed some tweaking, the actors on stage did not.

After being shipwrecked in the kingdom of Illyria, Viola (senior Kim Hausler), distraught over the assumed death of her brother Sebastian (senior Arnaldo Ortiz), finds work in the household of Orsino (senior Luke Klein). Disguised as a man and using the name Cesario, she works as Orsino’s messenger and assists in his attempts to win over the beautiful Olivia (sophomore Michele Danna), despite her own growing love for him. Irony strikes, however, when Olivia falls in love with Cesario, whom she believes to be a man.

The play focuses on the household of Olivia, who lives with a humorous gentlewoman, Maria (junior Kerry Bowers), her drunkard uncle, Sir Toby (sophomore Joe Sabatino) and his “fool” of a friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (senior Matt Cook), as well as her quick-witted clown and proper steward. As Sir Andrew tries to court Olivia, he, Sir Toby and Maria wreak havoc with their crazy antics. Major chaos erupts when Sebastian and his companion arrive at the household and the characters are thrown into a frenzy.

For those who are not well-acquainted with Shakespeare, the play may be slightly hard to follow. The dialogue is delivered in Shakespearean English and more often than not, the actors spoke their lines quickly. Audience members to whom the famous author is familiar may have no problem keeping up, but those without a Shakespearean background may struggle.

Although the play was written centuries ago, the cast was able to give it a fresh new twist by modernizing the age-old plot. The same storyline was used, but the set and costumes were much more modern, which allowed the audience to see it in a whole new light and connect with it on a more personal level.

Hausler delivered a great performance as Viola. With such a confusing and ambiguous role to play, she was able to overcome its perplexity and give the audience a good show. Throughout the play she stayed in character and presented herself as a man would. Although she was funny during comedic scenes, her real strong point was being able to convey her emotions in the low key ones.

Two actors who, when put together, really stole the show were Sabatino and Cook. Their ability to build off one another’s movements and actions was incredible and together they ruled the stage. Some of the greatest scenes in the play were ones in which the two worked together to create pure comedy. Their tone and inflection when speaking also added to the success of the comedic duo.

Junior Danny Lane gave an amazing performance as Feste, Olivia’s clown of the house. His well-planned voices and movements were spectacular and really helped to develop his character. He walked around the stage on his toes or his heels, with a constant shakiness about him. Lane also worked well with the props he used and his facial expressions added to the absurdity of his character. His singing and guitar playing topped off his already unparalleled performance and ushered the audience out with a smile.

The play’s set is simple, consisting of white walls on which there are three doors with curtains that open and close as the characters enter the stage. Later on in the show, bushes are brought out onto the stage, which give it an added touch, but does not take away from its simplicity.

Although confusing at times and despite a slow-moving beginning, the play kept the audience amused throughout its remainder. Some scenes stood out above the rest and had the audience doubling over with laughter.

In one such scene, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are reprimanded by Maria and Malvolio (junior Ed Egan) for making noise in the middle of the night. The two are obviously drunk and their charades kept the audience in stitches. Between singing and dancing, constantly burping, mocking Malvolio and getting stuck in a chair, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew gave the audience a real treat.

In the final scene, the whole cast was on stage for the unveiling of Cesario’s true identity, which left all of the characters speechless and bewildered. Maria and Sir Toby finished the show with a choreographed song that ended the play on a high note.

The cast finished off the show with a truly unique curtain call led by Lane. As he sang and danced in the middle of the stage, the rest of the cast played instruments behind him. After each verse of the song, a few of the characters would come to the front and dance before returning to the group.

Twelfth Night, while sometimes unclear, is a fun show to watch. If you feel like laughing, head over to the Yvonne Theater tonight, Friday, at 8 p.m. or tomorrow, Saturday, April 29, at 8 p.m.