The Twelfth Night at Hofstra University's J.C. Adam's Playhouse

Thursday night, I was in attendance for Hofstra's production of The Twelfth Night. Overall, it was a great performance and unique interpretation of the play. I personally did not enjoy the setting of the play taking place during the Reconstruction period in Georgia. Shakespearean literature is already difficult enough to understand when spoken; adding a Southern accent atop all of that was a bit much. For some characters, it was difficult to understand what they were saying because Americn, British, and Southern accents meshed and voice proliferation was on and off. I would have preferred seeing a different setting for the action of the play. The set design was beautiful and intricate though for the given setting. The pillars and Spanish moss gave off a Southern feel while complimenting that classic feel that Shakespeare's writing emits.

My biggest surprise while watching the play was the performances of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. While reading the play and even while watching the movie version in class, I was not very entertained by the roles of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. However, while watching Hofstra's performance, I found myself awaiting their entrances on stage. They were simply hilarious! The actor who played Sir Toby was easy to understand and the perfect example of a party animal. His acting was spot on, his accent was perfect, and he was easy to understand on stage. Sir Andrew was the perfect amount of awkward for a flawless performance. While watching, Lindsey and I could not help but whisper to each other about how funny the two of them were in conjunction. Together, they were a spectacular team that stole the stage.

Viola's performance was a bit underwhelming. I expected a captivating performance from a character who's on stage the most during the production. For a student performance, the actress played her role very well. However, the fact that she was supposed to be a man was not very convincing, nor did she perform with a Southern accent like the rest of the cast. In my opinion, her acting was far from spellbinding and made the play drag on a bit in certain spots where in the movie, I would have been completely engrossed by the actress playing Viola.

The actress playing Olivia played her role well. Again, the Southern accent threw me off for the most part when she spoke. She seemed less contemplative and day-dreamy than she was in the text of the play. There was not as much believable chemistry between her and Cesario during Hofstra's version of the play. For all versions of the Twelfth Night I've seen, I wish there were more appearances made by Orsino. I enjoy his character a lot, perhaps because I can relate to him. The actor who played him did a great job in Thursday's performance. Feste, the Fool, was played very well also. He had a beautiful singing voice and many different identities. I actually found him to be more of a clown than the Fool in the movie. He was constantly using funny voices, jumping around like a prankster, and using a maniacal laugh.

Overall, I was able to sit through the entire performance, however, I was not enthralled. I am one who enjoys the theatre and productions of all sorts, especially Shakespeare. However, this particular show did not particular excite me. I was more eager to watch the film on YouTube than I was to sit through this performance. It was a nice take on the text, and the actors made a great effort. I will be excited to look out for another performance of the Twelfth Night elsewhere in order to experience different interpretations that drama company's have.