Twelfth Night, and musings on comedy
Oct. 3rd, 2011 05:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexxkayYesterday, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kestrell and I saw the Actors' Shakeseare Project "Twelfth Night" at the Boston Center for the Arts. An above-average production, with particularly excellent performances for Viola and Feste. Also a really succesful impressionistic set design, evoking ocean waves, and literally using elements like water, sand, and dark reflections. Illyria is an extension of the sea, just as unpredictable.
There were two poor directorial choices that I feel strongly enough to call mistakes, but luckily they were not enough to kill the overall. enjoyment of the show, which I do recommend.
Firstly, having cast the twins as actors who were, though vaguely similar, clearly *not* twins (not, in itself a terrible problem), they decided to 'fix' things in a way that added to the confusion, rather than clarifying matters. Most of Sebastian's early scenes are 'shadowed' by Olivia, with the two of them talking simultaneously. To quote a puzzled Olivia, "What's your metaphor?"
Secondly, in the final scene, they let Malvolio be sympathetic. This sort of thing has ruined other productions I have seen, but at least here it was restricted to the final scene. Yes, modern sensibilities have some issues with the sort of maltreatment that Malvolio receives. But foregrounding that does damage to the story. The way to handle him (and Caliban, and Shylock, and so on) is to make it clear how much he in fact *does* deserve the treatment he gets, which the text will quite easily support. In this case, Malvolio at least had been sufficiently obnoxious through the rest of the play, even if they faltered at the last.
In chatting with Kes, I had an insight into one of the qualities present in all the best Shakespeare (and perhaps all good fiction): the audience can laugh at the characters. No matter how seriously the characters take *themselves*, one must be able to appreciate the levels at which their striving (like all human striving) is absurd. In acting mediums, that responsibility often lies with the actors and directors. The text of Twelfth Night *allows* you to play Orsino's love for Olivia, and Oliva's love for Cesario, as deep, meaningful, and tragic -- I've seen it done. But when you do that, your storytelling is confined to a single note, dull and flat. I'd be interested in hearing any counterexamples, if y'all can think of any.
kestrell and I saw the Actors' Shakeseare Project "Twelfth Night" at the Boston Center for the Arts. An above-average production, with particularly excellent performances for Viola and Feste. Also a really succesful impressionistic set design, evoking ocean waves, and literally using elements like water, sand, and dark reflections. Illyria is an extension of the sea, just as unpredictable.There were two poor directorial choices that I feel strongly enough to call mistakes, but luckily they were not enough to kill the overall. enjoyment of the show, which I do recommend.
Firstly, having cast the twins as actors who were, though vaguely similar, clearly *not* twins (not, in itself a terrible problem), they decided to 'fix' things in a way that added to the confusion, rather than clarifying matters. Most of Sebastian's early scenes are 'shadowed' by Olivia, with the two of them talking simultaneously. To quote a puzzled Olivia, "What's your metaphor?"
Secondly, in the final scene, they let Malvolio be sympathetic. This sort of thing has ruined other productions I have seen, but at least here it was restricted to the final scene. Yes, modern sensibilities have some issues with the sort of maltreatment that Malvolio receives. But foregrounding that does damage to the story. The way to handle him (and Caliban, and Shylock, and so on) is to make it clear how much he in fact *does* deserve the treatment he gets, which the text will quite easily support. In this case, Malvolio at least had been sufficiently obnoxious through the rest of the play, even if they faltered at the last.
In chatting with Kes, I had an insight into one of the qualities present in all the best Shakespeare (and perhaps all good fiction): the audience can laugh at the characters. No matter how seriously the characters take *themselves*, one must be able to appreciate the levels at which their striving (like all human striving) is absurd. In acting mediums, that responsibility often lies with the actors and directors. The text of Twelfth Night *allows* you to play Orsino's love for Olivia, and Oliva's love for Cesario, as deep, meaningful, and tragic -- I've seen it done. But when you do that, your storytelling is confined to a single note, dull and flat. I'd be interested in hearing any counterexamples, if y'all can think of any.