Hardwick Gazette August 13, 2003
Quarry Works Offers Delightful Twelfth Night
by David K. Rodgers
THEATRE REVIEW
CALAIS - Like the Unadilla Theater in East Calais, one must drive several miles on back dirt roads (bring your Vermont Atlas) to reach the Quarry Works Theater in Adamant, set at the base of an old granite quarry now filled with water, with the original tall wooden mast and cables, winches and heavy iron equipment used to extract the stone still lying about. The small space (with a seating capacity of hardly 50) makes for intimate theater at its best, and very generously (thanks to the Adamant Community Cultural Foundation) it's all free!
The current production at Quarry Works is William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night-or 'What You Will,"' a comedy with a marvelously convoluted plot (like the better known "Comedy of Errors"), full of disguises, misinterpretations and foolishness, all resolved into a happy ending. (It's surprising no one seems to have tried to make it into an opera!)
Set in the vague kingdom of Illyria, the premise of the play is the unrequited love of the Duke Orsino for the Countess Olivia, who in turn falls in love with his messenger, who is actually a young woman. (Viola) masquerading as a page, who has a twin brother (Sebastian), each of whom fears the other has been drowned in a recent shipwreck. Paralleling this main line and cleverly intertwined with it are the antics of four different fools: an almost medieval clown/jester (Feste); a pretentious steward (Malvolio); a ner-do-well nephew (Sir Toby Belch); and a truly clueless suitor (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), all part of Olivia's household.
Curiously, the latter two of these idiotic characters are not bumptious "rude mechanicals" like those in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" but titled aristocrats, and thus Shakespeare indirectly comments on the fact that stupidity is not limited to any class. The jester has the greatest wit and wisdom of anyone in the play, his repartee like fencing with words, and Shakespeare gives him some of the most delightful lines in the play, which William Pelton (as Feste) declaimed flawlessly.
The casting of this work does present some inherent difficulties in the brother/sister roles, almost requiring identical twins. In this production Heather Fitch (Viola) and Malcolm Purinton (Sebastian) were similar enough looking (and dressed in the same costume) to pull off the amusing, rampant confusion of identities in the ending scenes. Fitch's acting was particularly compelling, her delivery flowed unhesitatingly, her emotions well communicated, and she even had the swaggering walk of a young man.
Martin Pincus played the dignified part of Orsino well with a commanding presence, while Mary Wheeler (fresh from the Unadilla's production of Alan Bennett's "Getting On" - how does she ever remember all these lines?!?) projected the ambivalent character of Olivia with ease and professional skill. Russ Longtin (Sir Toby Belch) had a very expressive face and hands, and Dean Burnell (Sir Andrew Aguecheek) well maintained the vacant stare and air-brained mannerisms of a hopeless dupe.
Simon Chaussé all but stole the show in his very funny characterization of Malvolio, giving the audience some excellent "whole body acting" where all his facial and hand movements, walking and speaking, were beautifully integrated. The other supporting actors and actresses (various servants, two sea captains and a priest) were very competent. It is really quite astonishing how many fine performers there are for live theater in this part of Vermont.
In the original play (written almost exactly 400 years ago) there are four songs, presumably sung to music long lost. In this Quarry Works production, several songs from Broadway. musicals have been carefully interpolated, the lyrics modern but appropriate to the particular scene. William Pelton (Feste) sang these with a slightly uneven but adequate voice. The piano player, Joan Foster, was quite masterful in her accompaniment, as well as in the occasional, several bar allusions to other relevant tunes ("Falling In Love With Love," "Stormy Weather," Satie's "Gynopedies," and others) she made at different scene changes.
The only criticism this reviewer could make was the stage sets, which were dull and meaninglessly symmetrical, and which sometimes made the blocking by the actors and actresses quite awkward. Otherwise, if you love the ever mellifluous beauty of the Bard of Avon, this is a production well worth seeing.
"Twelfth Night" runs this week and weekend, Aug. 14, 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m., with matinees at 1 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Come early (to find your way and ensure a seat) and bring a picnic to enjoy by the quarry pond.