"If this were played upon the stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Twelfth Night!
t's 1:30am, and I just had a couple of drinks, so this won't be eloquent, but I know if I post nothing now, I may never get to it.
Overall, it's a nice time, mostly entertaining, but it just doesn't live up to what I thought it could be. Generally speaking, the set isn't too imaginative, the costumes don't seem to flatter most (...Orsino could have looked hotter, and I think Anne Hathaway could have looked sexier as a man), and the production feels a little more like the sum of parts rather than a complete entity. Granted, they are only at their second preview, so this could all bloom in the next couple of days or weeks. I don't think anyone watching the show I saw tonight will understand why Twelfth Night is one of my all-time favorite plays. At its best, I think Twelfth Night is the type of show that could have you crying one moment, and shrieking with laughter in the next. But this one was a load of giggles, and not too deeply moving.
This is largely on Viola's shoulders, because she is the emotional center of the play. I LOVE Anne Hathaway...generally speaking. I think she's teribly charismatic, I think she's quirky, down-to-earth, genuine, deeply felt, and has the best of intentions. I think she's a woman of her craft, who is constantly trying to challenge herself, and I have such respect for her for that. I think this production proves she is a fine actress. She handles language, beautifully, has a great singing voice, a superb stage voice, a deep emotional hold on the character, and a very competent performance. I think she sometimes tends towards amusing choices rather than painful ones, and though she is certainly emotionally with Viola, what she reveals comes a bit suddenly, or simply was kept a little too private, so it didn't really move ME. She is a bit stiff physically on stage, but all in all, though many would like to see her sink, she very much swims, and I am excited to see her grow in this role. Her flaws are something a person of her level of talent and dedication to craft will be able to overcome in time. I hope to see her pursue more stage work. In a nut shell...she's charismatic, charming, but I'm not sure from what I saw tonight that the audience will fall in LOVE with Viola, and I believe they should. I'm not sure they will see one of Shakespeare's most selfless and noble characters, but the potential is there.
I was a bit disappointed by Raul Esparza (Orsino), Michael Cumpsty (Malvolio), and Julie White (Maria). Raúl is probably my favorite male actor in the world, but he has such little stage time, that I'm not sure he's figured out yet where we can fall for Orsino rather than sneer at him self-indulgence. I'm not sure why, yet, Viola would fall in love with this guy. Besides the fact that Raúl is beautiful and there's something attractive about his angsty-ness. Michael Cumpsty--one of the great American Shakespearean actors--is just middle of the road as Malvolio. This is the biggest shock because he's a superb actor in what is hands down the show-stealing role in this show. Julie White is fine, but I didn't see enough of that zany Julie White electricity that we were mad over in The Little Dog Laughed.
The show-stealers in this production are Hamish Linklater (Andrew Aguecheek) and Audra McDonald (Olivia). Linklater was definitely the audience favorite and nailed EVERY moment in this relatively small role, and was simply brilliant. If this was on Broadway, he'd certainly have a Tony nomination coming his way. Audra McDonald is absolutely genius as Olivia, and thankfully I think people watching this performance may understand why I think Olivia is one of Shakespeare's great women. She is so put together in the beginning, and by the end...she's BANANAS. The woman loses her marbles. I think my favorite scene in the play was the second Olivia/Viola scene because Audra was actually SHOCKING at some points!
...The rest of them still have time though, so. Who knows?