TWELFTH NIGHT , Sichuan International Studies University
Apart from an amusing performance by Zheng Yashu Arther [Malvolio] for which he deservedly won the
“Best Comic Performance” award, this presentation of scenes from “Twelfth Night” was rather laboured
and lacking in genuine comedy. Zhang Lin (Vivi Lynn) [Feste the Clown], despite energetically capering
around the stage was not very funny. Many of her moves and stage business had very little to do with
advancing the action that was being presented. Playing Shakespearean comedy is not easy but it never
works when the actor simply superimposes silly supposedly “funny” antics or “funny” voices. Even in a
farce, the actor needs to play the truth of his or her character. So Malvolio is funny because he takes
himself so seriously. He doesn’t think he is funny at all and his vanity is partly why we laugh at him.
Feste needed to play the truth of his character – for instance he should genuinely try to trick Olivia into
laughing by wittily trying to prove to her that she and not himself is the fool. The song “O mistress mine”
was nicely performed by Feste. I think it would have been advantageous to have performed fewer
scenes in their entirety rather than cobbling together so many scenes. This would have avoided the
need to have so many costume changes. I don’t think the director and the actor playing Malvolio were
aware of the bawdy meaning of the reference to Olivia’s “C’s, her U’s and her T’s” or to how “she makes
her great P’s”. While on the surface this seems to simply refer to Olivia’s writing it has a much more
vulgar meaning. [The word “Cut” was an Elizabethan slang word for the vagina and the expression “to
take a Pee” refers to urinating] What makes this funny is that Malvolio is blithely unaware of the
bawdiness of what he is saying. Some of the comic business in this presentation was amusing [the cross
gartering] but some of the potential comedy was lost [the normally lugubrious Malvolio should attempt
to put on a ludicrously inappropriate big smile which he thinks will please her.] The added ‘dream
sequence during Malvolio’s “Some are born great” speech was very effective. Peng Peiran Rita
[Olivia/Maria] performed his two markedly different roles effectively. The Sir Topaz scene which ended
the presentation was not really needed and, added to the multiplicity of scenes that had already been
presented, made it hard for the audience to follow the logic of the action being presented.
By Prof. Geoffrey Borny
Twelfth Night
Sichuan International Studies University
The piece starts with Olivia singing “the element itself”, this piece of dialogue
about Olivia being set to music and sung by her. It’s a little confusing but
inventive. Feste enters to observe her from behind a garden screen (the set,
consisting of white garden furniture is a little bland). Feste silently mocks what
he sees, thus upstaging the actors. If this sort of “commentary” thing is done,
then it should be done for a purpose. It is difficult to see what purpose is served
here. Olivia is nicely posed and well played, if a little stiff and monotonous.
Malvolio is well done. Good comic acting is keyed to the character rather than to
some vague expectation that one is a “clown” (genre actng). Feste tends to be
played in this generic fashion. There is no need for this because Feste is a very
interesting character and the performance should be based on his character (an
aging professional clown who is – as Malvolio cruelly realizes – way past his sellby date). The Malvolio actor conveys Malvolio’s malice nicely in his delivery of
the line “such a barren rascal” (a hurtful remark, as clowns – like Hamlet’s
“Yorick” – were valued for their wit, their “excellent fancy”). The Olivia actress
exits to re-enter as Maria, whom she acts with real verve. Again this is comic
acting with some basis in the character (an uppity serving woman who seizes her
chance to humiliate her boss). Malvolio is now faced with a long and difficult
monologue: his finding and reading of the dropped letter. This he manages with
panache. He captures the dawning of awareness in Malvolio (that the person
Olivia means is really him). He also “revolves” on the word “revolve”, a fairly
common way of doing this, but capturing Malvolio’s literalism. There is a really
nice bit of business when Olivia enters to speak her lines from the “letter”. Smoke
billows indicating a fantasy scene. Malvolio runs up to embrace her and
embraces Feste instead. This deserved a laugh, and got one. Malvolio acts his
lines with real intelligence, modulating his voice as he comes to grips with his
new fortune. The speech ends with him dancing with himself in happiness. He
exits to come on again with the cross-garters. It is standing temptation for
Malvolios to make too much of these. This Malvolio almost does so, but manages
to show off his garters while just maintaining his dignity. His love-making to
Olivia is nicely done (he gets a real laugh when rubbing his gartered legs on
hers). In the “Sir Topas” section, Feste overdoes his part: the role of “Sir Topas” is
funny of course, but it has a hint of malice originating in Feste’s character as the
fading clown. Malvolio’s desperation at this point is well done.
By Prof. John Gillies
Twelfth Night, Sichuan International Studies University
Twelfth Night is an excellent choice for any team because the comedy is such a gift to
any group of actors. On the other hand this production reminded me that playing
Shakespearean comedy successfully requires an actor to think him- or herself into the
concrete human reality of the role: Shakespeare almost never creates flat, mechanical
stereotypes but rather characters—i.e., imitations of living breathing human beings.
Thus I think it was a mistake to opt for a highly stylized, artificial mode of acting in
this production: movements were over-choreographed, to my mind, and Malvolio was
played in an excessively mechanical and farcical manner. (This tendency to overdo
comedy was noticeable in quite a few productions this year—I don’t mean to single
out the team from Sichuan International Studies.) On the positive side, this team
constructed a coherent narrative out of its excerpts from the play and also showed it
had a good comic sense when it followed its natural instinct for such material—for
instance there was some very funny business at the curtain, with the dragging-off of
the vain Malvolio. I also appreciated some of the attractive scenic qualities of this
production: Olivia’s very striking blue and black dress, for example, or the pretty
garden setting. One final point to make is that sometimes the articulation of this team
was less than perfect.
By Prof. Peter Holbrook