March 28, 2024

Archway Theater fails miserably with Twelfth Night

Courtesy archwayla.com

By Iman Bakhit
Staff Writer

Archway Theatre’s modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” catches the audience’s attention in a peculiar if not disturbing way.
The audience arrived at the Archway Theatre with an expectation to be treated to a Shakespearean classic only to be unpleasantly surprised by the poor logistical planning of the play. The chaos ruled the stage as actors kept breaking their props once and again as well as spilling unwanted contents from their back pockets onto the stage. All of this unforeseen havoc extended the play a good half hour and sent the audience into a coma.
This adaptation of “Twelfth Night” is set in the world of Hollywood during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Hence, the impersonators of popular 1930’s entertainers such as Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, filling the void by roaming around the stage between the acts.
Ashley Love, an aspiring actress, leads in the role of Viola, a young woman seperated from her twin brother in a shipwreck. She lives as a man in order to win friendship of her love intrest, famous actor Orsino, portrayed by Kerry Kaz.
The dialogue was rushed to to the extent where the only way the audience could discern what was going on was through the actors’ movements. The language of the play was another confusion bestowed upon the unsuspecting audience. Despite the play’s setting being in 1930’s Hollywood, the actors used ‘thou’ instead of ‘you’ following the Shakespearean tradition. At the same time, they used a very modern word of ‘video’ to refer to a movie, while in reality the only term that existed in the 1930’s to describe a movie was that of ‘motion picture’.
The actors appeared to be perfectly groomed in the beginning, then, acts later, would emerge in the same costumes covered in stains, making the audience wonder what they were wrestling with in between acts. Even though the production had a very modest budget, it should not come at a big expense to maintain a filth-free stage and costumes.
With an extensive cast of fifteen actors crammed onto a tiny stage in a 99-seat Archway Theatre, it gave them plenty of opportunities to knock over props. This, in turn, lead to an unplanned intermission. The actors’ slip-ups ultimately kept the audience in their seats longer than they bargained for due to poor planning beforehand.
If you are looking for a play to see this weekend, you should probably give this one a pass. This play will definitely leave a sour taste in your mouth. At twenty-eight dollars a ticket, it is a steep price to pay for a subpar production such as this.
“Twelfth Night” is playing at the Archway Theatre located in North Hollywood, every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until February 13th. Tickets are $28.

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