THEATER REVIEW : Globe’s ‘Twelfth Night’: Shakespeare by Design

“Twelfth Night,” Shakespeare’s clever riff on mistaken identity that pre-Tootsied “Tootsie,” has been living up to Shakespeare’s alternate title “Or What You Will” in the last few weeks.

In a playful version by Shakespeare Orange County, Viola becomes Alice stepping into a Looking Glass World. The version that opened Saturday at the Old Globe Theatre, however, gets closer to the heart of Shakespeare’s story.

Director Laird Williamson gives us a Viola beset with doubts about her journey from girl to woman. This “Twelfth Night” starts with Viola gazing at herself in a looking glass that rises up from the stage, trying out a frilly dress, rejecting it and falling into a dream.

The story moves into Illyria, drawn with the lush, romantic and humorous colors of fantasy. The tempest-tossed ship that separates Viola from her twin brother Sebastian (and in this play, her female from her male self) becomes a toy ship in the hand of Feste, a fool played as a wispy-haired old wizard with a balloon contraption holding him aloft.

The cast is, on the whole, marvelous. The character that holds the key to the play is Viola who, shipwrecked, dresses as a boy, Cesario, and serves the Duke Orsino. Young, fresh-faced Marcia Cross registers every nuance of wonderment and discovery, catching the mischievous delight of the girl fooling everyone, illuminating the pain of a love for the Duke she cannot realize until she reveals her true self, and ultimately becoming more of a woman because of the time she spends as a man.

The only casting glitch is John Hutton, who seems uncomfortable in his role as the romantic Duke who sends “Cesario” to woo the faraway Countess Olivia. She in turn falls in love with “Cesario” instead of his master.

All the other performers seem to revel in their roles. Jacqueline Antaramian offers a sensuous Olivia, less foolish than funny, who finds herself susceptible to the charms of “Cesario” because Viola’s blunt way of telling her off is much more refreshing than the Duke’s sappy missives.

Jefrey Alan Chandler is magical as Feste, an aging man whose power to pull other people’s strings rests on his wits. Dan Shor amuses as Olivia’s hapless suitor, Sir Andrew, whose hair keeps the shape of every hat he takes off. And Don Sparks creates a deliciously foolish, downright Dickensian Malvolio at the center of the subplot about Olivia’s steward.

Among Williamson’s many successes here is his fine integration of the plot with the subplot of Olivia’s high-living uncle, Sir Toby, who taunts the humorless Malvolio and is boisterously played by William Anton.

Highlighted in this “Twelfth Night” is the idea that all who live by the illusion of romantic love lose. So Malvolio is made a fool of not just because he is a boor, but because he can be tricked by a fake love letter.

Conversely, those who get to know their loved ones see friendships blossom into marriage, from the high romance of Viola and the Duke to the low comedy of Sir Toby and Maria, Olivia’s maid and Toby’s partner in crime, wittily played by Katherine McGrath.

Ralph Funicello’s set, with carnival-like bright colors and wooden planks that curve up like a wave of the sea, suggests a dreamscape, warmly lit by Chris Parry. Andrew V. Yelusich’s elaborate costumes delight, from vaudevillian excess to handsome companion garb for Orsino and Olivia, Viola and Sebastian. Larry Delinger’s compositions set Shakespeare’s words off hauntingly, as befits such a memorable rendition of Shakespeare’s comically tender, yet clear-headed look at lasting love.

* “Twelfth Night,” Old Globe Theatre, Balboa Park, San Diego. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.; Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Aug. 28. $23-$34. (619) 239-2255. Running time: 2 hours, 52 minutes.