TWELFTH NIGHT
But seeing the play in director Dai Parker-Gwilliam’s considerably more conventional European Repertory Company production, I’m not sure the Bard himself doesn’t deserve some of the criticism lobbed at Bartlett. Written as a Christmastime court entertainment for Elizabeth I, Twelfth Night is less a fully functioning drama than it is two half-finished plays–one a funny/depressing meditation on love, the other a grab-ass grab bag of silly shtick and comedy bits–cobbled together into two hours or so of more or less acceptable entertainment.
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Even more than his comedy, however, Shakespeare’s romance gets short shrift in this cold, emotionally neutral production. When Orsino declares his love for Olivia or she declares hers for Viola, their protestations are just so many words delivered on a stage.
