University of Virginia Library

'Twelfth Night' Review

If Only It Wasn't A One Night Stand

By Steve Wells
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

If I had any major regret upon
leaving Cabell Hall auditorium Wednesday
evening after seeing The
Oxford and Cambridge Shakespeare
Company's production of "Twelfth
Night" it was that there was to be
no repeat performance here in
Charlottesville. It is a shame that a
theatrical happening of such worth
must be limited to a mere one night
stand.

The master craftsman responsible for
the beguiling evening (aside
from the Bard, of course) was
director Jonathan Miller. The
highest compliment one can give
him is that the production seemed
much shorter than its actual three
hour length. He made the tale of
two twins, Viola and Sebastian,
who get shipwrecked on the island
of Illyria, glide by with grace.

The play, one of Shakespeare's
best comedies, details the romantic
confusion which results when Viola
disguises herself as a boy in order to
portray Orsino's (the Duke of
Illyria) "gentleman." Orsino loves a
certain countess named Olivia, but
Olivia wants no part of him.
Believing her to be a man, Olivia
falls in love with Viola, who, while
delivering messages between Orsino
and Olivia, soon finds herself in
love with the Duke. There is also a
sub-plot which deals with Sir Toby
ech (Olivia's uncle), Malvolio (the
steward). Feste (her fool), and Sir
Andrew(a crony of Sir Toby).

Sub-Plot Precedence

Often during the performance
the sub-plot was found taking
precedence over the main plot and
there are three reasons why this was
so. One, the characters Shakespeare
created for the sub-plot are, on the
whole, more interesting and more
colorful. Two, Mr. Miller's direction
was at its absolute best in the
supposedly secondary segments.
Three, the performance of Hugh
Thomas as Malvolio, around whom
much of the sub-plot revolves, was
notably outstanding. I look upon
this shift of emphasis as sort of an
ironic note to the evening instead
of as a criticism. After all, why
knock a good thing?

Mr. Miller's staging was consistently
adroit, with only a couple of
lapses into heavy-handedness. His
sense of comic possibilities was
quite amazing. If a line had one
laugh in it, you could bet Mr. Miller
would get two out of it. After a
slow start while the premise was
being structured, the director took
control and the pace stayed at a
lively level the rest of the way.

I was particularly impressed by
the visual significance of much of
Mr. Miller's direction. For instance,
it was amusing the way he had Sir
Toby, Sir Andrew, and the clown
mimic the wildly gesturing Malvolio
after awaking him with their
singing. Another case was the
fun scene in which he had Maria
(Olivia's gentlewoman), Sir Toby,
and Sir Andrew literally break up
laughing over Malvolio's appearance
as he bids for Olivia's love. But to
take a more profound example, in
the fifth act confrontation scene
with Olivia, Orsino, and the disguised
Viola, Mr. Miller placed
Viola upstage center, Olivia downstage
right, and the Duke downstage
left. There you had it -
literally - the eternal triangle, with
one of the angles in this case being
ambiguous.

Thomas's Malvolio

Before the players are praised as
a group, I would like to elaborate
of Mr. Thomas' interpretation of
Malvolio. Although he looked perhaps
a bit too perceptive for the
part, he brought the character
across in grand style. His reading of
the love letter which Malvolio
mistakenly believes was written by
Olivia to him was a gem. Saying in
his usual grave manner "I will
smile" and then retreating to do
just that and later stalking after his
beloved like a seventeenth century
Valentino, he evoked much laughter
from the large crowd.

Jonathan-James-Moore was a
delight as Sir Toby; shaggy, heavy-drinking,
conniving - and he was
set off perfectly by Mark Wing
Davey's lecherous Sir Andrew. I
also especially liked touseled-haired
Don MacIntyre as the fool and
Barbara Gravenor (who had one of
the most infectious giggles I ever
heard) as Maria. Mary Jane Mowa
as Olivia, Hilary Henson as Viola,
Mike Wood as Orsino, and John
Madden as Sebastian gave convincing,
though at times bland,
performances. I only wish that
space were available to give mention
to all concerned, for it is a very
gifted company. With some good
luck maybe they can be persuaded
to pay us a return visit.