Twelfth Night Essay

705 Words2 Pages

This is a lively production under the direction of Tim Carroll, with wonderful comic timing, brisk pace make entrances and exits scenes continuous with no interruption. The Globe’s approach to have almost no sets, besides the occasional table or bench makes the stage very fluid, and the actors all bubble with humor throughout. The play is so mesmerizing by the quality of the acting that it is easy to forget that these are men playing female roles. The performance revolves around Mark Rylance’s Olivia, who has a strong stage presence throughout; Rylance plays a role that is subtle and powerful. The voice he uses makes him sound like an elderly woman, which in the book I portrayed her as a young woman. Nevertheless, there are certain points …show more content…

The scene in the garden where Malvolio reads the forged letter from Olivia, really written by Maria, is a masterpiece, as Fry falls into the character with ease and grace. I thought Colin Hurley, as Sir Toby, and Roger Lloyd Pack, as Sir Andrew were a wonderful comic duo. These actors found a great way to represent the fun and mischief these two characters get into from the play. Michael Brown who plays Viola was very strong on female body language. His walk is just right and his girlish nervousness wins over not only Liam Brennan as a very touching Duke Orsino but also everybody in the theatre. Reading the book, I took to find Viola more of a determined girl, but when played by Brown Viola seems almost blonde and ditzy in her mannerisms. Even though watching the play grew my understanding of comedic reliefs that I missed while …show more content…

The actors are something to note, but also the wide arrange of music using an assortment of more or less recognizable instruments. This is typical of Carroll's ability to make even the most absurd scenes in the play feel human and real. This becomes movingly clear in the Malvolio subplot. When the deceived, prancing steward is imprisoned, Feste attempts to reassure him by taking his hand; on Malvolio's release, Olivia takes it again in apology. It is Malvolio's tragedy that he rejects this contact: he locks himself away from love, and so from life. And it is the joy of Carroll's thrilling production that each tiny gesture

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