Twelfth Night
It’s not a slight to T. Schreiber Studio’s fall production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to mention at the top how incredible it looks. Director Cat Parker mentions in her note how the "steampunk" aesthetic, (a movement growing out of a subgenre of science fiction which incorporates Victorian elements such as corsets and antiquated machinery in its design), informed her vision of the show. Scenic designer George Allison and costume designer Karen Ann Ledger have pursued that vision to fantastic lengths: Instead of singing, the fool (Matt Steiner) pushes a hand-cranked hurdy-gurdy that always seems to break down before its tune has sounded; women never wear one layer when they can wear, say, a ruffled shirt topped by satin corset, leather cropped jacket, double-buckled belt and gloves. As the woman next to me said about steampunk, "I’ve never heard of it, but so far it’s totally cool."
Cat Parker’s take on Shakespeare’s comedy is far less out there than the design of the show. (Steampunk, as an acting element, seems to translate mostly into moping.) The one major deviation from most productions is to make one half of its sad pairing at the beginning so unlikeable that she deserves much worse than she gets. Andrea Marie Smith plays Olivia as a simpering fool unfit for Orsino (Shane Colt Jerome) -- hardly in the depths of grief. When Viola (Jacqueline van Biene) tells her, "I see what you are, you are too proud," she hits it on the head. Olivia’s mourning seems like a way of padding her vanity, and her reward later in the play with the discovery of Sebastian (Collin McGee) seems out of joint. Better that she should belong to the similarly arrogant Malvolio (Julian Elfer, whose every second onstage is a treat), a dirty fortune hunter "addicted to a melancholy" who gets the punishment his mistress deserves. It’s a thought-provoking choice even if the text doesn’t fully support the reading.
Performances through Nov. 23 at the T. Schreiber Studio, 151 W. 26th Street. For tickets and more information, visit tschreiber.org.
