Twelfth Night
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Hamilton Clancy
Presented by The Drilling Company Theatre at the Parking Lot adjoining 145 Stanton Street, between Norfolk and Suffolk on Rivington St., Manhattan, NYC
July 25-August 3, 2024
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| Guido Gatmaytan as Sebastian, Ivory Aquino as Olivia. Photo by Jonathan Slaff. |
If
Twelfth Night explores the fluid relationship between gender and desire—and indeed the fluidity of gender and desire themselves—then Drilling Company Theatre’s latest production in their free Shakespeare in the Parking Lot series showcases just how appealing this play is for a contemporary audience. The production shines most brilliantly in moments of heightened comedy, but nonetheless also succeeds in delivering a poignant ending in the reunion of siblings Viola (Mary Linehan) and Sebastian (Guido Gatmaytan). While Sir Toby Belch (Hamilton Clancy) often cheekily reminds the audience of their very specific location in place and time by peppering the production with references to things like Katz’s Deli, nearby street names, and Republicans, the steady stream of passersby stopping to watch for a few moments—sometimes filming on their phones, sometimes joining the audience—highlights just how organically part of the neighborhood the company is.
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| Mary Linehan as Viola. Liusaidh Hopper as Officer. Photo by Jonathan Slaff. |
Much of the comedy inherent in the text centers around members of the Countess Olivia’s household. The scenes with Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Lizabeth Allen), and the fool Feste (Andy Rowell) draw on the strength of these actors and their ability to make even carefully rehearsed scenes have an almost improvisatory feel, alive to the ambient sounds of the neighborhood surrounding the performance, such as responding to motorcycles roaring by. Andy Rowell’s Feste sings while accompanying himself on the guitar, and several of the songs’ lyrics are humorously sung to familiar and seemingly incongruous tunes, such as “Row, row, row your boat” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Kiara Ruth Luna as the gentleman Fabian is a welcome addition to later comic scenes. Moreover, the cross-gendered casting of Sir Andrew, a suitor for Olivia, as well as Fabian contributes to the play’s exploration of gender.
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| Andy Rowell as Feste. Photo by Jonathan Slaff. |
Led by the serving-woman Maria (Colleen Cosgrove), the group’s duping of the overly officious steward Malvolio (Emanuel Elpenord) produces another comic highlight of the play, his appearance in yellow stockings, cross-gartered, because he has falsely been led to believe this will attract Olivia. Elpenord’s interpretation of a character played by the likes of such comic greats as Stephen Fry highlights Malvolio’s social climbing, his working-class Cockney accent portraying the status his formal demeanor and costuming cannot hide. Elpenord demonstrates his range when he appears in the yellow stockings, here imagined as a performance akin to drag, with Elpenord wearing a long wig and hotpants. His performance likewise leans into the play’s consideration of gender fluidity, which is of course brought to the forefront by Viola’s cross-dressing as Cesario.
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| Olivia contemplates the changes in Malvolio: Ivory Aquino and Emanuel Elpenord. Photo by Jonathan Slaff. |
While the members of Olivia’s household provide many of the play’s obvious comic moments, Ivory Aquino’s commanding portrayal of the Countess herself leans into the potential for comedy in her pursuit of the bemused Viola without sacrificing any of the gravity of the final scene, in which all of the confusion and hurt feelings produced by the mix-ups between Viola and Sebastian are resolved. The touching and romantic moments here, in which the siblings are reunited and both Olivia and Orsino are satisfied by their romantic partners, are ultimately subsumed by the production’s comedy, with John Patrick Hart’s Orsino leading the rest of the cast and ultimately the audience as well in a rousing rendition of “Hooked on a Feeling.”
-Stephanie Pietros
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