Have you ever really liked someone and been crushed to find out that the person you like really likes someone else. To make matters worse, you are shipwrecked on an island and can't find your twin sibling, so you go to town in disguised as your sibling. Ok, well maybe not that last part, but you know the first part! Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a story of two siblings, Viola and Sebastian, who become lost at sea and shipwrecked on Illyria. Both siblings assume the other is drowned because they end up on different parts of Illyria, so Viola becomes a page (named Cesario) to Duke Orsino. Duke Orsino wants to marry Olivia, so he sends Cesario to court her for him, but Olivia begins to fall in love with Cesario. Poor Cesario is stuck between a man she wants to be with and a woman that wants to be with her, but neither Orsino nor Olivia can see Viola is just disguised as a young man. On top of that you have the tricky mind of Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby Belch, who adds to the chaos by playing with the minds of Sir Andrew Aguecheek (a squire), Feste (the fool) and Malvolio (Olivia's steward). What will become of all these love triangles and chains? Even though Feste is the fool, will Sir Toby make fools out of everyone else?
While this isn't my favorite Shakespeare play (it happens to be a Midsummer Night's Dream), this is definitely a really good one. With mistaken identity, witty humor, and love chains, where someone loves someone, but that someone loves some else; this is truly the work of Shakespeare. I absolutely loved the mischievous shenanigans Sir Toby Belch, Fabian and Sir Andrew Aguecheek played throughout the play, especially when they were drunk with song! They definitely got across the humor, even in Shakespearian language. With so many love chains going on, part of me wanted to just yell out the truth, but the secrecy in this play is what keeps the interest and the story moving. I also thought it was funny how cute and cuddly Orsino and Viola/Cesario got a couple of times, but realized they were men and quickly distance themselves. However, I really think this play would not have been as good as it was without Feste. Feste seems to make every little scheme a little more mischievous, while still making it seem that he is just a fool that knows nothing. I do think that any Shakespeare play is a little hard to follow just because of the Shakespearian language, but if you really pay attention and just try to enjoy the show, everything will make sense. I would give this show 5 stars out of 5 for its humor, love chains, mistaken identity, and its sneaky but comical mischief. I would also recommend this play to anyone that enjoys a good laugh, drunken singing, and a good Shakespearean play.
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