It’s the typical story of boy-meets-girl-disguised-as-boy story.
It’s a typical Shakespeare story line, anyway.
The 24th Kern Shakespeare Festival is featuring the mistaken-identity comedy, “Twelfth Night, or What You Will” at Bakersfield College’s Outdoor Theater, Oct. 9-11 at 8 p.m. The play is directed by KSF regular Bob Kempf.
The play opens with Illyria’s Duke Orsino (Andrew Ansolabehere) suffering from unrequited love; his beloved, the Lady Olivia (Christina Varvel), has determined that she will forsake the company of men for seven years while she mourns her brother’s death.
Meanwhile, Viola (Lacey Maples), a survivor of a capsized vessel, has reached Illyria’s shore. She does not realize that her twin brother Sebastian (Matthew Borton) has also survived the shipwreck and is in Illyria as well. Viola decides to disguise herself as a eunuch named “Cesario” and serve Duke Orsino.
She soon falls in love with Orsino. While this is going on, Olivia is irritated by Orsino’s emissaries bearing his suit.
She is no less irritated by her vulgar, imbibing uncle Sir Toby Belch (Bob Kempf) whose drinking partner is the dimwitted Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Ronnie Hargrave). Toby, Andrew, Olivia’s spiteful attendant Maria (Tracy Herda) and the obnoxious clown Feste (Jay Campbell) devise a plan to disgrace Olivia’s steward, the dour Malvolio (Ron Warren).
As in many of Shakespeare’s plays, the secondary characters are more interesting than the main characters. This is never any principal actor’s fault; it is the way the plays are written. Many times the dialogue and antics of the secondary characters are more entertaining and engaging. For example, the rascally clown Feste, by no means the most important character in the play, often possesses the funniest lines. During Act I, Scene V of the play, Feste quips to a weary, dismissive Olivia: “For what says Quinapulus? ‘Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.'”
Also, the exchange in the same act between Olivia and Sir Toby, who is also not one of the principal characters, is one of the play’s more entertaining snippets. Toby stumbles in drunk as usual into Olivia’s house. Olivia remarks, “Cousin, Cousin, how have you come so early by this lethargy?” Toby angrily replies, “Lechery? I defy lechery.”
With dialogue like that, the secondary characters become more interesting to watch. The main characters Orsino and Olivia are almost too stuffy and full of decorum, but, again, that is not the actors’ fault. However, Lacey Maples’ Viola is simply hilarious, especially at the beginning when Maples’ Viola tries with all of her might to appear ballsy. Maples’ boyish, slight frame is an asset for playing this role.
Another notable is Jay Campbell as the unruly Feste. Campbell has by far the strongest speaking voice, and he sings well. Ronnie Hargrave has finally been cast in what appears to be his most fitting role as Angrew Aguecheek; Aguecheek is the perfect channel for Hargrave’s frantic sense of buffoonery.
Unfortunately, the usually dynamic Tracy Herda is strangely and inappropriately low-key as the spitfire Maria.