This version of Twelfth Night is adapted for the screen, and to do so it was cut to little over an hour. At that length, the story barely makes sense. After Malvolio is carted off to the dungeon, he disappears entirely and is never rescued. Maria's lovely comment about "no cakes and ale" is replaced with a weak substitute something like "you think that makes you right."
I have no problem with updating the setting to the current day, but this particular setting, in the ultra-cool Southern California, seemed inappropriate because I just couldn't believe it. The production was very professional, shots of the coastline were gorgeous, and details like iphone use and internet searching were perfect - but those people just wouldn't be speaking Elizabethan blank verse. Yes, I got used to it after a while, but only to a degree.
The actors did a good job with what they were given, and Charles Baker was a fine Feste and the song arrangements were great, but with most of his teasing dialogue stripped away he came across as rather dour.
This production might be okay for people who think they hate Shakespeare, but it's only a pale shadow of the real play.
I have no problem with updating the setting to the current day, but this particular setting, in the ultra-cool Southern California, seemed inappropriate because I just couldn't believe it. The production was very professional, shots of the coastline were gorgeous, and details like iphone use and internet searching were perfect - but those people just wouldn't be speaking Elizabethan blank verse. Yes, I got used to it after a while, but only to a degree.
The actors did a good job with what they were given, and Charles Baker was a fine Feste and the song arrangements were great, but with most of his teasing dialogue stripped away he came across as rather dour.
This production might be okay for people who think they hate Shakespeare, but it's only a pale shadow of the real play.
