An all-male cast is performing Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Richard III on Broadway, featuring Tony Award-winning actor Mark Rylance in gender-bending performances as Richard III and also as Olivia in Twelfth Night. The plays are presented in repertory at the Belasco Theatre during a limited engagement through February 2.
The production, straight from London's West End, has received glowing reviews on Broadway. "This is how Shakespeare was meant to be done," Ben Brantley wrote in The New York Times, and he didn't just mean that the performers have an unshakeable faith in Shakespeare's words to carry the day.
This production gives a rare glimpse into Shakespeare's own time, presenting the plays as closely as possible to how they were originally performed, by actors wearing period clothing and makeup, on a stage with authentic props and scenery, with incidental music played on period instruments, all illuminated by the natural light of 100 on-stage candles.
And the players are all men, because women were not permitted to act on London's commercial stages until the 1660s. The audience is invited to come 20 minutes early to witness the Shakespearean pre-show ritual of actors transforming themselves into characters both male and female, dressing and preparing their makeup on stage, serenaded by live music played on period instruments.
Some of the audience members are seated on the stage, allowing them to enter more fully into the Elizabethan spirit of the proceedings. This authentic production began at Shakespeare's Globe in London, the theater founded by American actor Sam Wanamaker and built to be a replica of Shakespeare's original Globe Theater.
Brantley called Mark Rylance "astonishing" in his portrayal of the Countess Olivia. He also praised the performance of Stephen Fry, who is the target of much merriment and malice as Malvolio in Twelfth Night. They are joined by members of the original Shakespeare's Globe and West End casts.
All of which makes these plays a must-see for the Bardolators out there, as well as those who want to experience the magic of Shakespeare for the first time. For more information about this production, please visit shakespearebroadway.com.
