Twelfth Night

Abstract

Reviewed by: Twelfth Night Janis Lull Twelfth Night Presented by the Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre at The University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK. 22 July–8 August 2021. Directed by Tom Robenolt. Set by Kit Mayer. Costumes by Theresa Reed. With Kellie Bernstein (Valentine), Audrey Fox (Servant), Bruce Hanson (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Annabel Heyne (Viola), Shirley Hughes (Maria), Flyn Ludington (Olivia), Darren Napoli (Antonio), Nick Nappo (Feste), Turner Nolan (Officer/Priest), Jared Olin (Sebastian), Matthew Reckard (Sir Toby Belch), Tom Robenolt (Orsino), and Bruce Rogers (Malvolio). After a dark pandemic year, outdoor Shakespeare returned to the boreal forest with an upbeat Twelfth Night by Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre (FST). Producing Artistic Director Tom Robenolt cut the script to emphasize its festive mood and downplay its loose ends. Most notably, at least for me, Duke Orsino did not speak the line in which he offers an olive branch to Malvolio at the play’s end: “Pursue him, and entreat him to a peace” (5.1.373). This omission erased any hint that Malvolio either deserved an apology or might somehow be included in what Orsino calls the play’s “most happy wreck” (5.1.262). The Folio text of Twelfth Night gestures only fitfully at comic resolution. Jack shall have Jill, but some things go ill, even in Illyria. The text sidelines Antonio, for example. Sir Toby forcefully rejects Sir Andrew, and Malvolio exits with a vow of revenge. These things happened in this summer’s Alaskan production, too, but they didn’t seem to affect its celebra-tory tone. Where other directors might have brought a silent Malvolio back onto the stage—either to participate in the happy ending or to stand conspicuously outside it—Robenolt simply let him go. As played by Bruce Rogers, the steward threw off his oppressive propriety and reacted with explosive joy when he read the fake letter, and his dungeon scenes were touching, as he begged for ink, paper, and light. But the production had sealed his fate. Olivia (Flyn Ludington) granted that Malvolio had “been most notoriously abused,” but to my ear, she sounded more amused than angry about it (5.1.372). Ludington reserved most of her passion and her lyrical delivery for the twins, initially for a tall and appealingly androgynous Viola/Cesario, and then—with the passion kicked up a notch—for Sebastian, who more than matched her enthusiasm. Like Malvolio, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew seemed to disappear from the thoughts of the other characters as soon as they limped off the stage: out of sight, out of mind. Nor was there any mention of Sir Toby’s marrying [End Page 172] Click for larger view View full resolution Sir Toby Belch (Matt Reckard), Feste (Nick Nappo), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Bruce Hanson), and Malvolio (Bruce Rogers) in Twelfth Night, dir. Tom Robenolt. Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre, 2021. Photo by Turner Nolan, courtesy of Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre. [End Page 173] Maria. Without such hints of unseen reconciliation, the sense of harmony at the end depended on the four lovers. For me, that sense came mainly from Viola and Sebastian—first in Olivia’s reaction to seeing the two together for the first time—“Most wonderful!” (5.1.221)—and then from the slow-motion reunion of the twins, who stepped tentatively toward each other across the gravel apron in front of the stage. The Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre’s playing space on the University of Alaska Fairbanks’s forested campus is one of those spots that evokes the wood outside of Athens where Peter Quince’s company rehearsed. In keeping with that site, the design of this production was what I’ve come to think of as Neo-Renaissance Primitive, taking advantage of the location to pare down technical effects—no lighting needed under the Midnight Sun—and concentrate on the story. Kit Mayer’s wooden set looked a bit like drawings of early English stages, but was probably closer in function to the wagons used in earlier pageant cycles. Props were few, and the instrumental music was provided by Valentine (Kellie Bernstein) and her guitar. The costumes, designed by Theresa Reed, provided the only substantial visual effects in the performance. These particular costumes...