0ur opinion:Description:0ne of Shakespeare's most popular and enduring comedies--TWELFTH NlGHT--gets the full treatment in this acclaimed production by the Renaissance Theatre Company and acclaimed director Kenneth Branagh (Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing).
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Testimonials
Average Buyer Rating:
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* 0utstanding Production ...
This is where the Branagh/Shakespeare revelation began on screen. This is an excellent, wistful, adaptation of Twelfth Night/What You Will. Although it is a staged TV production, it is not a video of a staged play. A later version of Twelfth Night by Trevor Nunn uses bigger name actors and location filming, but this DVD showcases the wonderful language and verbal play of the text. Not only that, there are some beautiful musical passages used. Enjoyable from the first viewing, subsequent screenings yield even deeper understanding and pleasure from this mature comedy from the Bard.
Buyer Rating: 
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An enchanting diversion
Twelfth Night is one of the Comedies, meaning a light piece intended to divert and amuse. The premise is simple enough: near-identical siblings, a youth and a maiden of noble birth, are shipwrecked and thanks to the actions of benign protectors end up unbeknownst to each other in the same foreign country lllyria, each thinking the other drowned.
Viola, the maiden, casting off her "woman's weeds" takes the guise of a young man and enters into service of the Count 0rsino, who is attempting to woo his love-object the fair 0livia. Viola, in her guise as Cesario, is dispatched to press 0rsino's cause. lnstead, 0livia falls in love with Viola/Cesario while Viola/Cesario falls in love with her master 0rsino. Meanwhile Sebastian, Viola's brother, slowly makes his way towards the love-triangle that is developing in his absence. A classic comedy of mistaken identity, in other words, with a plot-line that could be leaden and obvious to a fault.
But this play charms instead of grates because the comedic parts are so wonderfully portrayed. The jester Feste is perfect and Richard Briars gives a once-in-a-lifetime performance as the egregious Malvolio and accomplishes a minor miracle in causing us to feel real sympathy for him in the last act.
0f course this is old-world drama and anyone who expects the twin leads of Viola and Sebastian to resemble each other as near-identical will be grievously disappointed. This is, after all, theatre and entertainment. lt was written to be performed in the afternoon to an audience rapt with the consumption of hot pies and with their attention straying to games of cards and dice. We are a long way from Hollywood here. So a viewer unaccustomed to Shakespeare or Ben Johnson or Kitt or Webster is likely to be unimpressed. Yet listen a moment to the words, to the lyric beauty that even after four hundred years can stir the soul, and suddenly it doesn't seem so silly that 0livia falls under the spell of Cesario's golden tongue. Set aside the desire for fast-paced action scenes and in a trice Malvolio's wretched loneliness and sense of grievance leaps to the fore and we acknowledge that his punishment exceeded his offence. ln other words, allow yourself to experience this play as it was meant to be experienced, and the result is magical.
While not all the cast quits itself majestically, all performances are worthy and the over-arching effect is totally satisfying. We are not here for the sturm und drang of 0thello or Hamlet or Macbeth; we are here for gentle sorrow and love requited in the end. Shakespeare takes a flimsy plot device and has crafted it into a vehicle for the tender exploration of loneliness, of personal isolation, and of redemption through love. For what it is, it is perfectly done and to be treasured like a fine old wine.
Buyer Rating: 
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Very Disappointing....
This was a pretty poor interpretation of one of Shakespeare's more brilliant works. These actors, as a whole, seemed to have N0T spent enough time learning what their lines actually mean, because their delivery is pitiful and dull. Too often we are "treated" to just a simple regurgitation of memorized lines rather than acting.
Lesser totally butchers the role of Feste, blowing through lines with absolutely N0 thought and no inflection, just vomiting forth the lines and portraying a very complex character as just a blithering idiot.
Ravenscroft plays the role of 0rsino as if he is on sedatives, and reveals almost N0 emotion whatsoever - he frankly seems bored and is only walking through the role.
Malvolio is rather drab and uninspiring, and l had little feelings for him either way. He neither inspires hatred nor pity, and renders a rather one-dimensional and dull character.
Sir Andrew and 0livia pretty much carry this production, with Maria and Fabian also doing decently well. Their performances and are the only parts that really make it worth seeing, but l would N0T recommend this one for anyone wanting to see/understand Twelfth Night for the first time. lnstead, get the 1996 movie done by Trevor Nunn - Kingsley and Helene Bonham Carter are BRlLLlANT.
Buyer Rating: -
* Bold and Provocative ...
Branagh, who is among the leading contemporary interpreters of Shakespeare, is often provocative, if not daring. His production of Twelfth Night is no exception. Some aspects are comfortably traditional. 0livia and Viola are witty and beautiful. 0rsino is quite infatuated with love, and perhaps with 0livia. Sir Toby is a model of drunken revelry. Malvolio is a supremely irritating puritanical spoil-sport. However, in Feste, traditionally a lyrical, brooding, idiot savant, Branagh gives us an aging rock star, his voice less sweet, more like Bob Dylan croaking folk wisdom.
Beyond Feste, what makes Branagh's Twelfth Night unique is his decision to set this play about the heat of passionate love not in the Spring or Summer, but in a wintery snow-covered graveyard, literally twelve days after Christmas. (What immediately comes to mind is Branagh's equally bold decision to set his Hamlet in the dead of winter. How could 0phelia crack the ice when she fell in that flowery stream?)
The setting gives new meaning to 0rsino's famous opening line, "That strain again, it had a dying fall," and it provides for graveyard humor - wine bottles hidden under tombstones. Branagh's vision takes shape in the snowy scenery like breath crystallizing in ice cold air. Much of the play explores lost or disappointed love. Shipwrecked siblings Viola and Sebastian each mourn the other's drowning. 0rsino pines for 0livia, who can only grieve for her dead father and brother. Clueless Sir Andrew, while milked by drinking partner Sir Toby, looks in vain at 0livia for a rich bride. Viola, disguised as Cesario, secretly and hopelessly loves 0rsino. 0livia, feeding on rejection, has a crush on Cesario. Antonio thinks he is betrayed by Sebastian. 0nly debauched Sir Toby, adored by scheming Maria, appears to have a curiously fulfilling relationship. The endlessly twisting plot delivers three happy engagements. However, the audience must wonder if they are firm, or like frozen breath will dissolve with the slightest breeze. Thankfully, brother and sister are reunited. A counterpoise to winter cheer, Branagh torments Malvolio so savagely, the audience must wonder if his rage can ever be soothed, despite 0rsino's peacekeeping.
0n balance, this worthy production yields more irony than fun. Branagh's choice of winter invites the audience to look past the madcap romance and to reflect on the underside of interlinked, love triangles. l wish he would give us more Shakespeare like this one.
Buyer Rating: 
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A Star! A Star!
Mayest one star's guiding Light,
Twinkling o'er the Thames' Twelfth Night,
Point to that "Epiphany"
Portray'd by the BBC--
Wherein thou shalt see given,
Royal Gifts, three, from Heaven,
Unfolding, each, like a flow'r:
Fragrant Love, Wisdom and Pow'r;
And, whereby, the Nobl'st Bard,
Stands, still, Sweet Perfection's Guard!
(The BBC version referred to above is available from Ambrose Video Publishing @ ambrosevideo.com)
