There is no aspect of the comedy that does not shine. As usual, the acting is wonderful. There are four strong leads; Viola (Marina Shay) and her twin brother Sebastian (Sean Hudock), who have been separated during a shipwreck and who each believe the other is dead, and the Duke Orsino (Charles Pasternak), who is madly in love with the lady Olivia (Ginneh Thomas), who spurns his marriage proposals – Montgomery Advertiser
Directed by Greta Lambert, Sean plays Sebastian in Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night,’ running at Alabama Shakespeare Festival through May 5, 2018, running in rep with William Gibson’s ‘The Miracle Worker.’ Click here for tickets.
Reviews
It’s no secret that Greta Lambert has long been one of ASF’s greatest actors. This production will help more people realize she is also one of ASF’s greatest directors. With “Twelfth Night” she takes the brilliant direction she has exhibited on the smaller Octagon Stage and transfers it to ASF’s Festival Stage.
Lambert knows that Shakespearean comedy should be hilarious, not pretentious, and hilarious perfectly describes ASF’s production of “Twelfth Night.”
But this isn’t just great direction. There is no aspect of the comedy that does not shine.
As usual, the acting is wonderful. There are four strong leads; Viola (Marina Shay) and her twin brother Sebastian (Sean Hudock), who have been separated during a shipwreck and who each believe the other is dead, and the Duke Orsino (Charles Pasternak), who is madly in love with the lady Olivia (Ginneh Thomas), who spurns his marriage proposals.
Viola, who has disguised herself as a man and taken the name Cesario, becomes a page of Orsino, who sends Cesario to convince Olivia to change her mind about his proposal. But as time goes on Olivia begins to fall in love with Cesario (Viola), while Viola begins to fall in love with Orsino. When Sebastian shows up, now looking almost identical to the male character Viola is playing, well, hijinks ensue.
The entire cast is excellent.
The amazing thing is so is everything else. The costume by Pamela Schofield could not be more sumptuous. They range from character-accurate to incredibly beautiful. The set, complete with a gorgeous marble stairway with the turrets of the city in the background.
The storm that sinks the ship, using “storm assistants” moving waves of cloth is almost balletic in its movement. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the musical numbers that are enchanting.
If you want to see a great comedy but don’t want to see Shakespeare, come see “Twelfth Night.” It will deliver the first and show you how wrong you were about the second.
Sean Hudock 