Britt Genelin plays Viola, in disguise as the male Cesario, and Katy Frame is Olivia in Axis Theatre Company’s Twelfth Night.
The Axis Theatre Company’s new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is something to celebrate. Directed by Randall Sharp, and superbly performed by a 12-member ensemble cast, this Twelfth Night is a wild and wonderful romp through Illyria.
Twelfth Night takes its title from the Twelfth Day of Christmas, January 6, also known as Epiphany, celebrating the arrival of the Magi bringing gifts to the infant Christ. In England, Twelfth Night was a festival of masques and revels—a feast of misrule. Echoes of those traditions are found in the aptly named characters of Sir Toby Belch and his zanies, including Maria, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Feste, the fool whose name means “revels” in Italian but also suggests feasting. As if that is not enough, there’s Sir Toby, uttering to the Puritan steward Malvolio perhaps the play’s best-known line: “Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?”
Genelin as Viola and Robert lerardi as Curio in Marc Palmieri’s’ streamlined adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
Rebirth, unrequited love, and gender identity, all are major themes percolating in Sharp’s retooled Twelfth Night, which clocks in at 90 minutes. She has kept the essence of the original while ruthlessly whittling down speeches and scenes.
The play begins with Duke Orsino (Jon McCormick) expressing his love for the Countess Olivia (Katy Frame), who’s cloistering herself for seven years in devotion to her dead brother. The melancholy tone then jumps into the aftermath of a shipwreck that separated the fraternal twins, Viola (Britt Genelin) and Sebastian (Eli Bridges), at sea. Though each twin believes the other drowned, both have been cast ashore in Illyria. To survive, Viola seeks employment at the duke's court and cross-dresses as a boy, “Cesario.” Meanwhile, Sebastian is befriended by a sea captain, Antonio (Jim Sterling).
In Sharp’s radical interpretation, the play’s revelry is toned down and her signature musical touch is introduced to fine effect. Paul Carbonara (original music and sound design) is on guitar, and Yonatan Gutfeld is on piano and cello. And, by the bye, the heroine’s name Viola dovetails nicely with the dark comedy in this production. It subtly calls to mind the viola, that stringed musical instrument whose tones are thick and darker than the crystal quality of its sister vessel, the violin.
Madness is writ large in this Twelfth Night. Malvolio (Brian Barnhart), the social-climbing steward of Countess Olivia, looks down on the revelers. When Maria gulls him with a letter that encourages him to believe that the Countess Olivia is in love with him and that he should dress in yellow cross-gartered stockings to please her, he ridiculously does. Little wonder he is declared mad and put in prison.
Of course, everyone in Illyria is suffering from some kind of madness: Orsino and Olivia indulge in self-love; Olivia falls madly fall in love with Viola in the guise of Cesario; the cross-dressed Viola is smitten with her boss Orsino; and her twin brother Sebastian falls in love with Olivia and becomes her husband ex machina at play’s end.
It’s not altogether clear what Sharp is up to by outfitting the performers in ravishing Georgian-era costumes designed by Karl Ruckdeschel, but they are visually arresting and lend an elegant air to the entire production.
Andrew Dawson (left) plays Sir Andrew Aguecheek, George Demas (center) is Sir Toby Belch, and Dee Pelletier is Maria in Twelfth Night, directed by Randall Sharp. Photographs by Pavel Antonov.
The ensemble acting is uniformly excellent, with the troupe’s delivery of Shakespeare’s language being conversational rather than declamatory. George Demas’s performance as Sir Toby Belch in Act II is guffaw-making stuff as he encourages his fellow revelers to keep the late-night party going in spite of Malvolio’s finger-wagging.
But Britt Genelin’s Viola /Cesario seems to have the most claim on the audience’s attention as she refers to her cross-dressed self as “poor monster.” After all, she’s in the painfully conflicted situation of having both to rebuff Olivia’s mistaken love and deal with her own romantic feelings for Orsino:
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
How will this fadge? My master loves her dearly;
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
Indeed, this Twelfth Night focuses more on unrequited love than merry-making. Sharp’s bare set, coupled with David Zeffren’s half-lighting, creates a mood of melancholy, not mirth. That’s not to say one won’t laugh at the antics of the backstairs crew who like to drink their ale. It’s just that Sharp’s vision of Shakespeare’s 1601 comedy embraces its more psychologically complex elements.
That said, if one would like to listen to the bittersweet poetry of Twelfth Night with no affectations, one should head to Sheridan Square in the West Village, where the Axis Company is staging its confection. This Twelfth Night is truly for Shakespeareans and non-Shakespeareans alike.
The production of Axis Theatre Company’s Twelfth Night plays through May 25 at 1 Sheridan Square. Evening performances are 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For more information, visit axiscompany.org.
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Adaptation: Marc Palmieri
Director: Randall Sharp
Set: Randall Sharp
Costumes: Karl Ruckdeschel
Lighting: David Zeffren
Sound: Paul Carbonara
Choreography: Lynn Mancinelli
