Of all Shakespeare’s comedies, Twelfth Night seems especially transportable to later time periods. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s holiday season production travels to the Jazz Age, the decade of the 1920s, using period costumes, lots of popular music and cultural references to add texture to an amusing story of mistaken identities, cross-gender confusion and uproarious mischief-making.
From the show’s first moment with a club singer at a big microphone performing the jaunty “Let’s Misbehave,” there’s a focus on comedy and playfulness. These elements overshadow more serious notes and conflicting threads that sometimes complicate Twelfth Night — and extend its length. Director Jeremy Dubin has judiciously trimmed this production to two acts of just over an hour each.
And in the end, all the confusion is put right again by the tale’s happy conclusion. It’s exactly the celebratory, smiling tone called for by the holidays. Read Rick Pender's review here.
