In his Director’s Note, Director Gregory Prest places Twelfth Night’s importance in context for audience understanding. It is a celebration, one of the most important on the Elizabethan calendar, marking the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, which became a “period of licensed festivity – a temporary suspension of ordinary rules and hierarchies.”
Although Twelfth Night need not be tied to the Christmas season, the production uses its silliness and outlandishness to invite laughter on a late-July evening at High Park.
If festivity here means song, physical comedy, laughter and mistaken identity, Prest’s intermission-less adaptation succeeds with a steady pace that rarely feels rushed.
A storm at sea separates Viola (strong work by Caroline Toal) from her twin brother, Sebastian (a contained yet focused performance by Ori Black). Shipwrecked in fictional Illyria, Viola decides to dress as a boy and disguise herself as Cesario to work for the bachelor Duke Orsino (a strapping Farhang Ghajar), who is upset that his affections for Olivia (Ghazal Azarbad) have been spurned. Orsino sends Cesario to court Olivia for him, but herein lies the comedy. Viola, disguised as Cesario, has fallen in love at first sight with Orsino. Attracted to Cesario, Olivia sends her steward, the narcissistic Malvolio (dashing-looking yet wickedly funny Rick Roberts), with a ring to find the young man and make him promise to wear it.
Got that all straight? There is a subplot running through as well.
Malvolio is disliked in Olivia’s household by her servant Maria, pronounced “mar-eye-ah” (Navtej Sandhu), the court jester Feste (Steven Sutcliffe), the crude Sir Toby Belch (Mike Shara) and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Justin Otto). Belch and Aguecheek, who also loves Olivia, generate much of the subplot’s comedy through their shared mischief. Toby and Andrew use a letter to trick Malvolio (a dashing and wickedly funny performance by Rick Roberts) into believing Olivia loves him. Meanwhile, Sebastian shows up with his friend Antonio (Ray Jacildo), who is a wanted man by the law for former piracy against Orsino.
Logan Raju Cracknell’s warm lighting design emphasizes the colour of the flowers and shrubbery on Sim Suzer’s bucolic, split-level set for the High Park amphitheatre. Suzer’s costumes reflect the earth-toned pastoral world of Illyria, while Olivia Whelham’s music supports the calm of the setting. The sound design also keeps the dialogue largely clear in the outdoor space.
Gregory Prest directs with close attention to text and characterization. In reducing the play to approximately 95 minutes, he also makes room for the text’s double meanings, especially in the comic exchanges between Shara and Otto. Their scenes remain controlled rather than excessive, and the wrestling sequence (with comic shades of the wrestling scene in D. H. Lawrence’s Women in Love) between them provides one of the production’s more memorable comic passages. At this performance, the audience responded strongly to their work.
The production also argues that Twelfth Night contains more than festive tomfoolery.
Prest’s adaptation frames Twelfth Night as a comedy in which love remains central to the play’s many relationships and reversals. As the Clown Feste, Steven Sutcliffe serves as more than a comic conduit. His voice carries clearly in the open-air performance, supported by Whelham’s sound design. Feste sings about love and its complexity at the top of the show, later breaking the fourth wall to reinforce the production’s thematic focus.
The company offers a cohesive ensemble performance grounded in clear comic timing and character relationships. The actors commit to the humour of each situation while maintaining the clarity of Shakespeare’s comic structure. In keeping with the conventions of Shakespearean comedy, the performance concludes with identities revealed, forgiveness extended and social order restored.
In Act 3, Olivia says to Malvolio: “Why, this is very midsummer madness.” While she believes Malvolio has lost his reason, the line also serves as a useful frame for the production’s final impression.
The result is a midsummer staging shaped by laughter, love, longing, revenge and belonging. Although Twelfth Night need not be tied to the Christmas season, this production makes its festive world accessible in an open-air summer setting.
Running time: approximately 90 minutes with no interval/intermission.
The production runs to September 6 at Toronto’s High Park Amphitheatre, 1873 Bloor Street West. For tickets: canadianstage.com or call (416) 368-3110.
CANADIAN STAGE presents
TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare
Directed and adapted by Gregory Prest
Set and Costume Design: Sim Suzer
Lighting Designer: Logan Raju Cracknell
Sound Designer and Composer: Olivia Whelham
Fight Director: Anita Nittoly
Performers: Ghazal Azarbad, Alicia Barban, Ori Black, Farhang Ghajar, Ray Jacildo, Justin Otto, Rick Roberts, Navtej Sandhu, Mike Shara, Deivan Steele, Steven Sutcliffe, Caroline Toal
