Shakespeare’s outdoor enchantment

By Charlene Baldridge

Rebecca Taichman’s Old Globe production of “Twelfth Night” has got music, color, romance and sex appeal. And it’s got wit and language by William Shakespeare, most of it well-spoken and well-executed.

For innovation, a river runs across the stage, roses and rose petals play a huge role, as do mistaken identities, swordplay and ravishingly beautiful costumes.

Taichman impressed local audiences last season with J.B. Priestly’s era-spanning, complicated “Time and the Conways.” Her production of “Twelfth Night” is no less fascinating in its application of all the above and its piquant casting. Perhaps the plot is not crystal clear to an unseasoned Bardophile, but we’ll leave that to their pending discussion; meanwhile, those who prepare in advance are rewarded bounteously, especially those with eyes to see, ears to hear and a passion for poetry.

(foreground, from l) Lowell Byers as Antonio and Tom McGowan as Sir Toby Belch with (background) Rutina Wesley as Viola, Daniel Petzold as Fabian, and Patrick Kerr as Andrew Aguecheek in “Twelfth Night.” (Photo by Jim Cox)

The mistaken identities are caused by a set of twins, Viola (Rutina Wesley) and Sebastian (Leroy McClain), who are separated in a shipwreck off the coast of the fictional Illyria. Each thinks the other dead. Disguised as the lad Cesario, Viola enters service in the household of Duke Orsino (Terence Archie), who would woo the local countess, an heiress named Olivia (Sara Topham). Though she entertains a household stocked with visiting relatives and potential wooers, Olivia is still in mourning for her late father and brother, and intends to remain without the company of suitors for seven years.

Principal among Olivia’s guests are her wastrel but entertaining cousin, Sir Toby Belch (excellent Tom McGowan) and his wealthy friend, Andrew Aguecheek (Patrick Kerr), whom he hopes will win Olivia with his charms. Alas, Aguecheek lacks the requisite charms and is little more than a drinking companion and subsidizer of Belch’s prodigious thirst. These two are thick with Maria (Amy Aquino), Olivia’s wily housekeeper, who has cleverness enough for all.

(from l) Daniel Petzold as Fabian, Patrick Kerr as Andrew Aguecheek, Tom McGowan as Sir Toby Belch, and Amy Aquino as Maria in “Twelfth Night.” (Photo by Jim Cox) — (from l) Daniel Petzold as Fabian, Patrick Kerr as Andrew Aguecheek, Tom McGowan as Sir Toby Belch, and Amy Aquino as Maria in “Twelfth Night.”
(Photo by Jim Cox)

Add to these Olivia’s overweening household steward, Malvolio (Robert Joy); her wise Fool, Feste (Manoel Felciano); and her servant/Belch’s friend, Fabian (Daniel Petzold). Most impressive in bearing and diction is Lowell Byers, who plays dual roles as Sebastian’s friend Antonio and the Sea Captain who rescues Viola.

Several things drive the play: Viola/Cesario’s wooing of Olivia in Orsino’s stead; Viola’s love for Orsino, which is made impossible because he believes her a lad; Olivia’s love for Cesario (“he” tries to tell her its impossible, but she keeps blooming in her passionate reawakening, evidenced by David Israel Reynoso gorgeous costumes); and the plot hatched by Maria, Sir Toby and Aguecheek to bring down Malvolio.

All comes out right with the reappearance of Sebastian, who solves the many mysteries of attraction and mistaken identity.

The senses are continually assailed by beauty and animal attraction: for instance, Orsino’s bare chest and chains, his musculature and his growing attraction to Cesario/Viola, beautifully demonstrated when she emerges as the woman she is. In her growing love for Cesario, Topham’s Olivia is as valley girl and vacant as they come, giving new dimension to the role. Clad in outrageously funny trousers, Kerr’s Aguecheek is the most inept ever (Taichman’s staging of the duel between Aguecheek and Cesario is among the funniest I’ve ever seen, due in part to Kerr’s superb physical comedy). The über-talented Felciano quite steals the show with his Feste, who sings, strums and plays the violin and shows his character far superior in intellect and wit to all the others. Try as she might, Wesley’s Viola/Cesario pales in comparison to the rest, a common problem.

The upstage water element (scenic designer is Ricardo Hernandez) and the immense roses are quite captivating, adding to the splendor of an outdoor evening (June 27) in which “the rain [that] raineth every day” rained only at the end of the show. Christopher Akerlind provides lighting design; Todd Almond, original music; and Acme Sound Design, the unobtrusive microphones that make it all audible. Chase Brock is choreographer and George Ye, the fight director.