THEATER REVIEW : ‘Twelfth Night’ Is the Bard’s Best for Beginners : The Moorpark version focuses on Shakespeare’s lines themselves, delivered with rare clarity and understanding.

The California Shakespeare Company concludes its current season with one of the Bard’s frothiest comedies, “Twelfth Night.”

Full of the elements that make Shakespeare fun--mixed identities, low humor and spunky women--there’s little or no Elizabethan history to worry about. In other words, it’s perfect Shakespeare for beginners, even more so than the more commonly performed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” or “Romeo and Juliet.”

One of those spunky young women, Viola, is washed onto the Illyrian shore together with the captain of the ship on which she was sailing; there are, evidently, no other survivors of the wreck--not even Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian.

Not wanting to wander around the countryside as a lone women (don’t worry about where the captain went), Viola disguises herself as a boy and seeks employment in the court of Duke Orsino. Once there, she develops a crush on the Duke. Two problems: the Duke thinks she’s a boy named Cesario and has his own infatuation, with Countess Olivia. Olivia will have nothing to do with Orsino, but finds “Cesario” attractive. Hilarity ensues.

Amanda Thomas plays Viola (pretty unconvincing as a boy, but hey, it’s a comedy). Allen Riedel is the love-stricken Orsino, and Diana Skolnik the standoffish Olivia.

In a secondary story, noblemen Sir Toby Belch (Palmer Scott) and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Rick Meyer), together with Olivia’s smart and witty major-domo, Maria (Jennifer Grimes), conspire to pull a practical joke on Olivia’s steward, the humorless and self-righteous Malvolio (Stephen Carver), convincing him that Olivia is secretly impassioned with him.

As their names promise, Belch and Aguecheek are a comedy team right up there with Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy. Belch, Olivia’s uncle, is a fun-loving alcoholic (not politically incorrect in those days, remember), sponging off the wealthy twit Aguecheek.

Mark Tortorici appears as Feste, Olivia’s jester, Jennifer Haymore as Belch’s co-conspirator, Fabian, Baylen Thomas as Sebastian (remember Sebastian?) and Morgan Davey as Sebastian’s friend, Antonio.

Several of the actors double in minor roles, as well.

Director William Fisher gives the show his usual minimalist touch--there’s very little to distract from the all-important speech, which the actors deliver with a clarity and understanding that’s rare in all but the more professional Shakespeare companies.

Details

* WHAT: “Twelfth Night.”

* WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday through May 28.

* WHERE: California Shakespeare Company Theater, 6685 Princeton Ave., Moorpark.

* HOW MUCH: $12 general admission; $10 students and seniors.

* CALL: 498-3354 or 373-9243.

Details

* FYI: Auditions for the previously announced Plaza Players production of David Mamet’s “The Frog Prince” have been canceled. So, for that matter, has the production.