New setting fails to refresh Twelfth Night

Los Angeles repertory theater company A Noise Within launched its 20th-anniversary season in a brand-new theater in Pasadena with a fresh production of Twelfth Night Or, What You Will.

The Shakespearean comedy tells the classic tale of girl dresses as boy, girl falls in love with boy, girl reveals true identity to boy. The twisty plot follows Viola (Angela Gulner), who dresses as a man after washing up on the shores of a foreign land. Viola becomes the servant to Orsino (Robertson Dean), while Orsino secretly has feelings for Olivia (Abby Craden). Of course, being a full-length Shakespearean play, the farce has many other shining supporting characters and subplots as well.

This specific production of Twelfth Night, directed by A Noise Within co-founder and co-artistic director Julia Rodriguez-Elliot, generally stays true to the Bard’s original text, ye-Olde English and most other original elements — except for the setting.

Rodriguez-Elliot sets the romp in Cuba, which has little relevance to the plot but great aesthetic value. The Cuban theme makes the play visually vibrant and exciting, with makeshift palm trees, machetes and beach chairs used as major set pieces. These touches inject the play with a vivacious energy that wouldn’t have been present otherwise.

Despite the color and energy, the play’s setting, in a tropical location, is puzzling. In fact, the characters still refer to the land as “Illyria” even though it’s clearly Cuba. The setting has no relevance or impact on the plot; the production could have taken place anywhere and the story would have remained the same.

In spite of this misstep, Rodriguez-Elliot keeps the tone of the play consistently hysterical. While Shakespearean dialogue can be difficult to follow, strong directing choices ensure the comedy of the story is portrayed clearly.  Much of the comedy is achieved through the effective use of staging and space — entrances and exits are not confined to the stage but are instead dispersed throughout the theater, making the production feel personal, upbeat and farcical.

The strength of the performances also adds to the production’s entertainment value. Jeremy Rabb plays Sir Andrew Aguecheek masterfully, channeling a bumbling idiot with enough earnestness to make the character extremely likeable. Apollo Dukakis also stands out as Sir Toby Belch, a drunken fool with grand plans to have Aguecheek seduce his niece Olivia.

In fact, the play’s standout scenes include Belch and Aguecheek spying on Malvolio through some palm trees, adding a comedic flair. These standout scenes often feature Dukakis and Rabb, supporting characters whose strong comedic performances help make the production shine, despite their minor roles.

Abby Craden, who portrays a wonderfully narcissistic and persistent Olivia, is also notable. These aforementioned characters are so ridiculous and out of touch with reality that they provide a welcome contrast to the more melodramatic, bland lead characters of Viola and Orsino.

Though Gulner and Dean offer welcomed performances, the pair lacks chemistry. Viola is perfectly adept, but the relationship between her and Orsino does not seem believable. Not only is there an off-putting age difference between the two (he could easily be her father), but the connection simply isn’t there. Even when Orsino is under the impression that Viola is a man, the relationship does not seem very close, not even in a platonic sense.

And even after the big reveal that Viola has been posing as a man, their relationship seems to spring out of nowhere and has very little heat.

These blunders aside, Rodriguez has staged quite an enjoyable production of one of Shakespeare’s most loved comedies. The atmosphere is fun and festive and certain moments make for many laughs.

A Noise Within’s fun production of Twelfth Night runs through Dec. 16.