Uneven Casting Dampens a Spirited ‘Night’

Susan Angelo’s staging of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” at Theatricum Botanicum is a spirited summer outing, albeit somewhat predictable in its by-the-book style. It’s blessed with an excellent piece of unconventional casting but weighed down by an equally striking miscasting.

The unusual but successful casting is that of a dwarf, Mark Povinelli, as Feste, the wise fool. He speaks the lines with ease and moves with limber grace, but his size also creates some unexpected sight gags.

When he’s about to pose as a curate, wearing a long black cloak, he notes, “I am not tall enough to become the function well”--only to be hoisted upon the shoulders of Fabian (Eric J. Stein), so that Fabian’s arms, Feste’s face and that cloak combine to create the impersonation of the curate.

This Feste tends to walk a plank jutting out from a tree in the alfresco Topanga venue. He has a serviceable singing voice, but in one scene, Orsino specifically asks him to sing and everyone else begins singing as well--with no explanation.

The miscasting is that of Megan Geer-Alsop in the pivotal role of Viola. She has a high, chirrupy speaking voice that is all wrong for a character who spends most of the play posing as a young man.

Considering that she’s also the play’s main love object, it’s odd that she is burdened with a truly ugly and vaguely unisex outfit in her pose as a man. You can say the same for her brother (Mike Peebler), though he’s not nearly as prominent a character.

The other principals are strong, especially the cheerfully uninhibited Justin Doran as the dandy Andrew Aguecheek, his limbs flailing in all directions. Jeff Bergquist and Melora Marshall ably portray his companions, Toby Belch and Maria, with Milan Dragecivich properly haughty as Malvolio.

Abby Craden’s Olivia looks a little too interested in shedding her mourning attire from the get-go--what’s with the lipstick?--but she’s certainly a vibrant presence. Abner Genece is a stalwart Orsino.

*

“Twelfth Night,” Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. Fridays, 8 p.m. through Sept. 28; Saturdays, 8 p.m. through Sept. 8; this Monday, 6 p.m.; Sept. 15, 22 and 29, 4 p.m.; Oct. 6, 13 and 20, 3 p.m. Ends Oct. 20. $14 to $20. (310) 455-3723.