Latest production set off the coast of Tofino is a season highlight
Photo courtesy of the University of Victoria.
Twelfth Night, the latest Phoenix Theatre production, is easily the season’s highlight. It is a romantic comedy at its finest thanks to strong acting and a strong production.
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night follows Viola, who has recently been separated from her twin brother Sebastian in a shipwreck. Alone in the fictionalized land of Illyria, she disguises herself as a man to work for the Duke Orsino, who tasks her to convince the Countess Olivia to fall in love with him. What follows is a series of mistaken identities, a convoluted (but followable) series of romantic entanglements, pranks, and misunderstandings.
Many recent productions of Shakespeare set his plays in different settings or times from the original, giving an old show a new twist. This production of Twelfth Night places Illyria just off the coast of Tofino in 2037 after an earthquake — the Big One — has wreaked environmental disaster. While this setting is mostly in the background details — a trailer as the Lady Olivia’s house (the height of luxury), oil drum campfires, costume designs that resemble Vancouver Island’s coastal culture — these help ground the story in a specific (and familiar) place.
The production also features modern music in scenes, but it never feels jarring. This is not just using a familiar song for the sake of using a familiar song — it evokes the right mood, one of irreverence, and adds to scenes like one where Viola and Orsino sing about unreciprocated feelings for one another, Orsino not noticing Viola’s affections.
What makes Twelfth Night work, at its core, is that it’s fun. It’s a romantic comedy. The misunderstandings are fun. The love the characters feel for each other are straightforwardly simple and inevitable. They fall hard and fast. As such, the stakes come from the various misunderstandings the characters find themselves in, and those misunderstandings are funny because they are well-played. The audience sees how they happen, and why one character can’t immediately resolve it. Strong acting in this production makes these characters as believable as they are entertaining.
As with every performance of Shakespeare, it takes a few minutes to process the language, but the cast was able to capture the always-relevant feelings and motivations behind their dialogue, and a lot can be understood from their delivery and physical acting. From Viola’s unrequited crush on Orsino to the Fool just trying to find a job, everything is clear to the audience. And, given the comedic beats, moments of physical acting are able to elicit laughs from exaggerated reactions alone.
Stand-out performances came from Samantha Frew as Malvolia (Malvolio) and Rodel Frazer as Sir Toby Belch. These two are demanding comedic roles, but were played masterfully by Frew and Frazer.
In Malvolia’s introduction, she is extremely strict and uptight, only for a prank to flip her personality on its head. The switch was not only believable, but extremely funny. Sir Toby is a scheming drunk with charisma to match. He is a slob, but surprisingly motivated when someone threatens to ruin his fun. Whenever either character was on stage, they were a delight to watch. The rest of the cast was still strong, but Frew and Frazer stole the show.
Twelfth Night is a production you shouldn’t miss. It is a straightforward joy to watch. Everything, from the acting to the production, perfectly emphasizes both the playtext and the actors’ strengths.
Twelfth Night runs until March 22. Tickets are available for purchase at the Phoenix Theatre’s website.
