theatre review - TWELFTH NIGHT - Southwest Shakespeare Company - April 3, 2016

Andy Cahoon, Emily Mohney, Jon L. Peacock, and Allison Sell
photo: Patrick Walsh

Click here for more information on this production that runs through April 9th.

 " William Shakespeare’s witty comedy that focuses on lost twins and a humorous love triangle, Twelfth Night, receives a solid production from Southwest Shakespeare Company. Full of charming characters, an abundance of mistaken identity, and several of Shakespeare’s most memorable lines, including “If music be the food of love, play on,” SSC's production has a wonderful cast, including an effervescent Allison Sell as Viola and a deliciously superb Emily Mohney as Olivia....Sell is exceptional in delivering a wide range of emotions as she pivots between displaying the pain of her unreturned love for Orsino and her disdain over the unwanted advances of Olivia...Mohney is just as good as Olivia. ...These are two characters who are passionate women and Sell and Mohney excel in their portrayals. The comical quartet are also quite good, though they border on being somewhat broad a few times which almost tips the comic scale of the show off its axis into a territory too much at odds with the rest of the play. ...The quartet are appropriately mischievous, with (David) Dickinson a simply dandy “fop,” while (Clay) Sanderson is the perfect comic foil as the overbearing and bossy Malvolio. ...Director David Vining does well in achieving upbeat comical and layered serious performances .. moved the time period to the late 19th-century and changed the setting from the coast of the Adriatic Sea to a small Greek island...While the sunny, aquamarine setting adds brightness to the humorous moments, the updated time and location doesn’t really add, or detract, much from the play. (Jason) Steffen adds a couple of fun songs throughout though they don’t exactly fit into the Greek setting or time period....Southwest Shakespeare Company’s production may not add much to the play with their updated Greek setting, but with an exceptional cast it still amounts to a sunny, spirited and robust romantic comedy romp."  -Gil Benbrook, Talkin' Broadway (click here to read the complete review)