Twelfth Night
The stalwart band of actors making up the Classical Theatre Company, A Noise Within, must pinch themselves every time they enter their spiffy new theatre at the corner of Foothill and Sierra Madre Villa Avenue on the outskirts of Pasadena. The sleek space is all industrial-tech in the lobby, but warm and inviting in the auditorium with lush, enveloping walls set in deep plum surrounding a jutting prow of a stage. It’s a big, beautiful, empty space just waiting for the sort of magic that ANW always provides.
For their first production in their new home, the Elliotts chose Twelfth Night, perhaps Shakespeare’s most rollicking comedy. Reputedly written for a Royal celebration, the play features mistaken identities, mature, as well as youthful lovers, and the silliest of all Shakespeare comic characters, the courtier Malvolio, played by none other than co-artistic director, Geoff Elliott. He delights in stretching the dimensions of his repertoire. With his Malvolio, Elliott allows himself room to become foolish; but nothing can disguise his signature golden tones.
The expansive stage becomes an island plantation as the acting ensemble opens in Carnival, Cuban style. This frame is the perfect backdrop for Shakespeare’s shipwrecked twins; and the conceit plays out in the costuming (by Angela Balogh Calin) and atmospheric lighting (by Ken Booth). It is important to pay homage to the other fine craftspersons who continue to make ANW the premier theatre group that it is. Kurt Boetcher’s tropical setting sets the mood; while design by Doug Newell (and Zipline Sound) fills in an aural backdrop. And what Shakespeare play could exist without fight choreography (by Ken Merckx), this time with machetes ---- all overseen by Henry Echeverria as Production Manager.
The shipwrecked twins, Viola (Angela Gulner) and Sebastian (Max Rosenak) set off in different directions, with Viola winding up in the court of Count Orsino (the magnificent Robertson Dean) disguised as Cesario. The count dispatches him/her to woo his love, the peevish Lady Olivia (Abby Craden). Wouldn’t you know; Olivia falls for Cesario.
Downstairs, Olivia’s cousin, Sir Toby Belch (Apollo Dukakis), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Jeremy Rabb) and the housekeeper, Maria (the infallible Deborah Strang), hatch a plan to discredit the arrogant Malvolio with a forged letter insisting that he appear in “yellow stockings, ever cross-gartered.” This is a style that has no parallel in any other time period or country. As out of place as this might appear, costumer Calin makes it work with a flippant cape setting off the frivolous get-up.
In director Julia Rodriguez Elliott’s hands, ANW veterans --- Strang, Dean, Dukakis, and Weingartner, to name just a few that appear in this cast --- blend well with the newer members. There are some delicious touches. The five women in black when Cesario comes to woo conveys the surreal sense of dislocation; the exorcism scene is an hilarious mix of traditional and exotic religious symbols; Abby Craden appears in costumer Calin’s most whimsical achievement, her wedding veil completing a polka dot bathing suit ensemble. Still, the Cuban concept sits a bit uneasily atop Shakespeare’s scenario. And no amount of energy can disguise the dichotomy between the dimensions of the new stage and staging that barely fills the spectacle. It is as though ANW has bought a newer, more expensive pair of shoes. It will take some time to grow into the fit.
PHOTO by Craig Schwartz: Deborah Strang (Maria) and Apollo Dukakis (Sir Toby Belch)
A Noise Within’s inaugural production, Twelfth Night,performs in repertory with Desire Under the Elms at 3352 East Foothill Blvd., Pasadena 91107.
See www.anoisewithin.org for complete schedule. Tickets from $42.00 to $46.00. Phone (626) 356-3100 or online.