|
Tweltfh night is a play about a young woman, Viola (played by Melanie Hirsch),
who is shipwrecked and winds up in Ilyria. She has a twin brother who she
thinks died at sea, but he actually survived. She dresses up as
a boy to find employment at the house of Count Orsino, who
she promptly falls madly in love with.
This is Orcino's house. It is really nifty. It has a nice tile roof, a tile
floor, adobe-like-walls, a little nook with a fountain, and a nice flower box.
I want to move in there.
In this scene, Viola and Curio (Orsino's servant, played by Steve Salter)
prepare for Orsino.
|
|
Orsino (played by Aurelio Perez) is a bit of an ass. All he does is mope
about all day whining about how much he loves Lady Olivia. Aha! you may say.
Viola loves Orsino; Orsino loves Olivia; we have a love triangle! Just wait.
It gets more complicated.
This is a great scene. Orsino's love makes him so hot that his servant Curio
must fan him; soon, Curio has to fan the, ahem, part of Orsino that
makes him so very hot.
|
|
Just another photo of Orsino and his wacky servants.
|
|
In another subplot, the great drunkard Sir Toby Belch (Dan Belsky)
is visiting his niece Lady Olivia, apparently with the intent of drinking
her house and the land of Illyria dry. He brings his friend Sir Andrew
Aguecheek (Brantley Bryant) in hopes of having Olivia marry Sir Andrew.
But poor Sir Andrew isn't quite the brightest and flashiest of guys;
Olivia barely gives him the time of day. Thus he and Sir Toby
seek solace in the bottle and midnight revelries.
|
|
Toby can't even get it on with Lady Olivia's somewhat sketchy lady-in-waiting,
Maria (Laura Louison).
In this scene, she invites him to "drink at the buttery bar," whereupon
he blushes and stammers his way through a lost opportunity.
|
|
A hundred years ahead of his time, Toby constructs the Tequila Sombrero.
|
|
Feste the fool (Sam Blair) had just returned to lady Olivia's house after
a long absence. In this scene, Maria expresses her annoyance with the
fool's foolery. Heck, she threatens to have him hanged.
|
|
Feste sings three songs. These were really needed as they slowed down the
breakneck pace of the show and made this production a bit of a variety show.
|
|
In yet another subplot, Malvolio (Chris Cutler), Lady Olivia's arrogant
steward, annoys Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew, Maria, and Feste. This sneaky
foursome plots a practical joke in which Malvolio is led to believe that Olivia
loves him, and that she absolutely loves it whenever he wears cross-gartered
yellow stockings.
|
|
He falls for it hook, line, sinker, and fishing rod. He even wipes off his
customary scowl and tries to smile.
Note that in the background you can see a little alter Lady Olivia has
constructed for her late brother. The photo of her dearly departed brother is,
of course, a photo of Gregory H..
|
|
And thus Malvolio suddenly appears, wearing yellow stockings and thinking that
he's some kind of stallion.
|
|
The scene where he macks on Lady Olivia (Katie Harper)
is particularly gruesome.
|
|
More Plot Exposition:
Meanwhile, Lady Olivia falls in love with Viola, who, you will recall, is
dressed as a boy. So now we have a nice Orsino-Viola-Olivia love triangle.
Sir Andrew is angry that the "boy" Viola has better luck with Olivia than he
does, so (at Toby's prompting) he writes Viola a challege to duel on the
assumption that she will run away and Lady Olivia will see how valorous he is.
|
|
Of course, poor Andrew and Viola are just pawns in Sir Toby's little practical
jokes. Sir Toby and Feste get Viola and Andrew to clink swords against their
will, causing them to scream bloody murder.
|
|
And now it gets really complicated.
Viola's brother Sebastian (Andrew Bryce) did not die at sea, as she thought.
He was rescuded by the pirate Antonio (Steven Salter) and, after a while,
winds up in the land of Illyria. Of course, he thinks that his sister Viola is
dead so he's all sad and weepy. When he first comes to Illyria, he is molested
by the fearsome Tequila Mockingbird (Alastair Thompson), a
woman-who's-not-a-woman. Fortunately, Antonio comes to his aid and Sebastian
can safely enter the land of Illyria.
|
|
Sebastian and Viola look alike. Neither is aware that the other is alive, much
less also in Illyria.
So when Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew try to pick another fight with the person
they wrongly think is Viola (granted, Sir Toby tries to fight with a bottle of Tequila), Sebastian kicks their butts.
Then Sebastian gets seduced by Olivia, who thinks that he's Viola, who she
thinks is a boy.
*Whew* Lots of mistaken identity here.
|
|
So in the end, Orcino is angry at Viola because she stole his love. Olivia is
angry at Viola because Viola denies their marriage. Malvolio is angry at
everybody. Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew are angry at Viola because they think
she beat them up. But when her twin brother suddenly pops up, everything gets
resolved. Viola and Orcino hook up, Olivia and Sebastian hook up, Sir Toby and
Maria are married, Sir Andrew runs off with the statue of the Virgin Mary,
and Malvolio runs off to be a pirate. Feste sings a concluding song, there
is thunderous applause, and then everyone comes onto stage to take their bows.
Just for the sheer embarrasment of it all, they get Mary onto stage, too.
And that was Twelfth Night.
|
|
I was the technical director, the guy who builds the set. I didn't design
the set -- Dave Ryan deserves all the ample credit. The set was big. Lemme
repeat: the set was big. Huge. It filled main stage. I mean, there's a
24 tall tower, cloisters, and a fountain. It was fun to build because our
set construction crew was totally spiffy to work with. And we got to use
power tools which greatly enhanced our sex appeal (e.g. I look so sexy when I
power grind away staples. Or not...)
