OMG SQUEE THEATRE.

Okay, Mask and Dagger's production of Twelfth Night = ROCK.

I haven't seen much live Shakespeare, let alone much live Shakespeare that wasn't done by the book (by that I mean sort of newly interpreted), but this was seriously one of the best productions of anything I've ever seen. The twenties costume theme was awesome, but the interpretation of themes was even cooler. ALL of the characters were done (and acted) superbly in the context of what the show was trying to put forth - that love is many-faceted, and often not in good ways. Sebastian and Antonio were done PERFECTLY (we even got kissing - though, as per the plot, Sebastian does end up with Olivia... but it was made clear that he should have been with Antonio, the infinitely more loyal and less skanky dedicated choice). Twelfth Night is THE play for messing around with gender roles, and this production utilized that to the full extent. Viola was played by a guy (a guy playing a girl playing a guy - how very Shakespearean), Feste was played by a girl, Sir Toby was played by a girl, all of Orsino's men were played by girls, and one of his random bitches was played by a guy. In a flapper dress. MAN, it was so awesome.

They did this awesome thing where they had chalkboards all over the set as walls, and people came out in costume, before the show started, and wrote "love" all over them, in different letters and with question marks and such. Then, at the end, each character came out and erased one of the "love"s and wrote over it something that pertained to their character. Viola wrote "obsession", for example; Sebastian wrote "immature", Antonio wrote "betrayal". I think Olivia wrote "lust". Orsino wrote "appetite". It was INCREDIBLY awesome.

Feste sang, too. And wore a shabby, patched jacket with pots and pans hanging off it, pajama pants, and a knit winter cap with a pom-pom. He also had this porcelain jester doll attached to his jacket, which he would talk to and make talk occasionally. The actress sang really well, and even though it wasn't the same tunes as the movie, they were very good ones. There was this one scene where all of the cast came out and were harrassing Malvolio (who was in one of those huge recycling bins with the lids for a jail cell) and singing this really creepy song, while kicking the bin rhythmically. That was the only part that got REALLY weird, and it still fit. OMGLOVE.

Feste showed Malvolio a mirror in the last scene, and Malvolio grabbed it and SMASHED it on the floor. It was very startling. GOD, I love Twelfth Night.

P.S. Rachel says "SQUEE" as well ^_^