The Highland Arts Theatre takes on Shakespeare in a fun-filled ’70s version of Twelfth Night.
It’s Saturday Night at the Illyria and the barometer is rising. Duke and Lady Liv are toe-to-toe in heated combat, and the kids who want to get their groove on are at risk of losing their favourite venue. They’ve got twelve nights to figure out how to save the club. Meanwhile, just about everyone is in love with Lady Liv and scheming to get a little bit closer and a little bit hotter. Meow.
Written and directed by Wesley J. Colford, Disco Nights is a pulsating, gyrating, full-on comedy of the highest order. While the Shakespearean play on which it is based, Twelfth Night, is one of Shakespeare’s darkest comedies, Colford keeps things light as he weaves a psychedelic tale out of Shakespeare’s turn-of-the-(seventeenth)-century classic.
For example, in Shakespeare’s version, Malvolio is a steward who is in love with the Countess Olivia. He’s such a sour-puss that a few of his acquaintances decide to pull a fast-one on him and make him look not just ridiculous but also certifiably insane in front of the woman he loves. I’ve always found this dark strain of Twelfth Night not just disturbing (I think Shakespeare mixed genres on purpose here) but frankly tedious. In Disco Nights’ version, there’s no room for boredom, and the scenes are too ridiculous to be upsetting. Malvolio, played by the incandescent Andrew Gouthro, does get restrained (cringe-worthy in a straitjacket), but his petulance is ever-light. He kept the opening-night audience in stitches.
Likewise, in Shakespeare’s telling, Viola and Sebastian – twins separated by a shipwreck – spend 80% of the play awash in grief. Viola protects herself from harm by posing as a male, and Sebastian sidesteps the propositions of a man whose desire for him is “more sharp than filed steel”—which is to say, “potent.” The tragedy is offset by a side-splitting comedy of mistaken identities and a healthy dose of the subliminal erotic. In Disco Nights, the siblings’ separation isn’t tragic. In fact, the only grief “Seb” suffers (played by the royalty of slapstick, Rory Andrews) is his failure with the ladies, a problem he tries to resolve by dressing like one himself. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em?
The crowning glory of this show is the choreography and the execution of it, though some of the acting performances rivalled the greatest dancers’ moves. In particular, Michele Stephens’ Lady Liv was truly “dope,” as the cool cats say (said?). She was a glorious combination of Tanya Cresham-Leigh, the sassy and flirtatious divorcee in the hit musical classic, MAMMA MIA!, and Patsy Stone, the acerbic lush of the smash British TV series, Absolutely Fabulous.
A great big shout-out as well to the Dance Corps., whose giddy-downs and groovy one-twos helped transform the Highland Arts Theatre into an Atomic Ballroom. And, keep your eye on DJ Feste (Geoffrey Lee-Dadswell) during “Rasputin”. There’s talent and then there’s talent. This is the latter, unmitigated.
Finally, disco without glam is merely a shadow of the thing itself. Diana MacKinnon-Furlong’s costume design was dynamite.
So, dust off your disco suit, shine your platform shoes and boogie on down to the HAT. You may be the only audience member in costume, but you’ll be so glad that you are.
Disco Nights has added two extra performances to its nearly sold-out run. Be there or be square.
This review was originally posted at Doktor Luke’s Blog. Used with permission.
