Twelfth Night Rocks at ArtsEmerson.
Photo: Robert Day
Since its inception in 2010, ArtsEmerson has been committed to bringing a variety of high quality theatrical productions from around the world to Boston. More recently, the theatre’s mandate has been modified to attract an audience that better reflects the diversity of the city. How does the Bard’s Twelfth Night or What You Will, fit into ArtsEmerson’s new vision? The very name Shakespeare is a turn-off for many who struggled and yawned their way through the plays in school.
Enter Filter Theatre and their ninety minute, eight performer abridged farcical version of Twelfth Night, which first opened in 2006 to great success in the UK. The British company specializes in devised works and revising classics. Twelfth Night, however, has been more devised than revised. Taking their cue from the play’s opening line, “If music be the food of love, play on,” Filter emphasizes music – essentially rock – sometimes to the detriment of the play and its poetry. Dialogue and characters are cut or, as in the case of Sebastian, Viola’s lost twin brother, almost so. Consequently, the plotline suffers as does the exposition.