After stumbles, ‘Twelfth Night’ finds the laughs at Burbage Shakespeare comedy gets a modern makeover
Special to The Call
PAWTUCKET – The Duke loves Olivia. Olivia loves Cesario. Cesario loves … the Duke!
But wait, there’s more: Both Olivia and the Duke think Cesario is a young man, but “he” is really a “she,” and she has a twin brother who looks just like her.
This is William Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night,” now in lively production at Burbage Theatre Company, the next-tothe-last production in the company’s first season in Pawtucket.
Presenting Shakespeare is fraught with challenges, Elizabethan English being the first. Rest assured, Burbage’s actors deliver even the most complex passages clearly.
The text makes for a lengthy production, however, and at Burbage the first act doesn’t establish a rhythm as it introduces a big cast of characters and sets up situations for what turns into a better-paced second half.
The story starts with a shipwreck that separates twins Sebastian (Marc Mancini) and Viola (Alison Russo), leading each to believe the other has drowned. Viola washes up alone on an unknown shore where, in order to survive, she pretends to be a young man. She names herself Cesario and finds employment with Duke Orsino (Leo Castro), the country’s ruler.
As mentioned, the Duke is infatuated with Lady Olivia, but Olivia (Allison Crews) refuses to see him, so he sends Cesario with messages of love. Olivia, however, falls for the messenger who, as we know, is smitten with the Duke.
This mixed-up love triangle is ripe for comedy, but Shakespeare adds to the fun with Olivia’s drunken uncle, Sir Toby Belch, marvelously played by Tom Gleadow, who gets his character’s bonhomie and his debauchery just right. Also entertaining are Sir Toby’s cohorts: Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a feckless knight played with geeky appeal by Richard Whitehead, and Maria, a scheming lady in waiting to Olivia, portrayed with alacrity by Margaret Melozzi.
There even is a character, Feste, identified as a jester who, as Shakespeare writes, “is wise enough to play the fool.”
That wise fool is well played by Ben Church, wildly costumed in striped socks and bright green jeans that suit his looselimbed, expressive demeanor. Neither his outfit nor others evoke a specific era except, perhaps, late 20th century; the timeframe isn’t crucial to this production.
But the comedy is, and the laughs are plentiful. Crews warms to her role as Lady Olivia, especially when she lets loose in scenes in pursuit of Cesario, who is alarmed that her true gender might be uncovered.
The best humor is right in the text, as when Feste says he “lives by the church,” understood to mean he follows church doctrine until he explains it literally: his house is located next to the church. Missteps come in the occasional tendency to mugging as laugh-inducer.
There also could be more sentiment when – spoiler alert for those who’ve forgotten – Sebastian shows up, having been rescued by a pirate, no less. Director Jeff Church nicely stages the confusion that arises as characters encounter the look-alike twins individually, but underplays what should be a touching moment when the siblings come face to face.
These are misdemeanors in a production well worth seeing, one that is understandable, well-acted and funny.
Performances of “Twelfth Night” continue through March 18 at Burbage Theatre Company, based at TEN31 Productions’ headquarters, 249 Roosevelt Ave. Tickets are $25 general admission, $15 students, $10 Rhode Island College students. Buy them online at www.burbagetheatre.org or call (401) 484-0355.