Blake Weil of No Proscenium has a review of Rude Grooms’ January 2019 production of Twelfth Night, for which I served as Actor-Manager and played Toby, Orsino, or Olivia depending on the night (well, technically I only got to play Olivia and Toby twice — Deb Radloff was the only member of the trio who got to do all three roles this year).
Weil praised our “inventive production of Twelfth Night that made full use of its immersive staging … transitions from room to room within the venue allowed for some amazing off script improv, pulling audience members in as co-conspirators, confidants, and sources of comfort to the characters. The characters of Toby Belch (gamely played by company founder Montgomery Sutton, who had drawn neither the pea nor bean) and Malvolio were particularly adept at incorporating the audience into the performance, with Toby encouraging their drinking, singing, and cheering and Malvolio being constantly irritated and shushing the crowd.”
Read the full review here, and pencil in January 1-6, 2020, when Twelfth Night’s “joyful chaos” returns to Queens!
