Empty Chair’s “Twelfth Night” disrobes the gender debate

Posted by clara / Thursday, June 16th, 2011

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The beauty of Shakespeare, and a well-known work like “Twelfth Night,” is that it has been done so many times that a director cannot simply put on the play without identifying a theme or message to which he or she would like to draw the audience’s attention.

Director Miranda Steege, along with her supporting production team at the Empty Chair Theatre Company, offers her interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedy in a package of high school teens struggling to find their identity in a world where stereotypes have already classified them. We know it well; some of us may want to relive it and some of us are still finding comfort in the televised teen shows that house characters more nerdy than our awkward, high school selves. But the commentary which Steege’s production extends takes the mounting debate of gender identity into question. What if we lived during Shakespeare’s time, where our identity was defined not by which gender attracted us but rather, by our general preferences as individuals?

Dramaturg Eamon Boylan’s playbill write up, titled “Gender and Sexuality in Twelfth Night,” explores Viola as a central example of the characters’ ability to fall in love with a person rather than a gender. Though she disguises herself as a boy, she is really a girl, and both Olivia and Orsino fall in love with who she is, not with who she outwardly appears to be. No matter how you feel on the question of sexuality, I think we can all agree that the world would be a better place if people loved for what is on the inside, rather than the superficial mask we wear on the outside.

To support her point, Steege and costume designer MaryLynne Smith focused on the essentials of a stereotypical high school. The costumes are a clear indicator to the audience of who’s who in the play, all the way down to the power pyramid of popularity. While there were a few minor hiccups – I question the dichotomous identities suggested by the two Olivia costumes and the strange choice for Cesario and Sebastian to wear business attire in a high school – the overall package is clear enough.

The performance is set on a simple, raked stage, with convenient lockers for prop storage and enough space to comfortably house the large cast. I didn’t quite understand the choice to set it in a high school hallway, and would have preferred no set at all; using my imagination fifty percent of the time led to a distracting inner monologue of questions. The self-made proscenium arch separated the world of audience and actor, which seemed appropriate enough, though all in all I didn’t feel that the set design enhanced or detracted from the performance.

What did leave an impression was the rapport of the cast. They say that if you smile, the world smiles with you, and on that principle, it is hard not to have fun when it is so evident that the actors are having fun too. Many people fear Shakespeare for his archaic language, but you don’t have to understand the text to know that many punch lines have been delivered just right. I applaud Jesse Bhamrah, who played numerous small characters for the show, for his effortless humor and comedic timing. Other accolades go to Charlie Cook, Matt Minnicino, Anna Treichler and Olivia Myers, the supporting actors who made up the conniving team of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Fabian and Maria. Their physical comedy and facial reactions put the cherry on top of the outstanding letter-reading scene where Jeremy Tuohy, who played Malvolio, was at his best.

Though the first half felt a little slow, the performance really kicked up at the end of the intermission. Perhaps this was because the cast started the second half with a few songs. They’ve got some strong voices to carry the tune but that hardly matters; their rendition of Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” stays true to the world of the show and the entangled romantic web which is about to be unraveled. I was impressed with the creativity that went into staging a song which I felt flowed well with the storyline and enhanced my understanding of the show. Plus, if you’re a Shakespeare buff, you’ll appreciate the choice to break up the scenes with a few songs, as it was said to have been done on the Elizabethan stages.

It’s a fun show, and I appreciate the commentary they’re making. Plus, with ticket prices ranging from $5-$15 (and I can attest that it is kid-friendly because the 8-year-old I brought had a blast) it’s an enjoyable two hours. The show runs through Sunday, June 19. Visit www.emptychairtheatre.org for more information.

–Clara Ritger

Tags: Alexandria, Anna Treichler, black box, Charlie Cook, Clara Ritger, Eamon Boylan, Empty Chair, Empty Chair Theatre Company, gender, gender debate, Jeremy Tuohy, Jesse Bhamrah, kid-friendly, MaryLynne Smith, Matt Minnicino, Miranda Steege, Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Magazine, NoVA, Olivia Myers, performance, sexuality, Shakespeare, The Culture Gurus, The Game Plan, Theater, theater reviews, theatre, Theatre on the Run, theatre reviews, Twelfth Night, What You Will, William Shakespeare