Still, East Lansing Community Theatre can take pride in delivering Shakespeare with enthusiasm and articulation, doing their best with little/no budget, using contemporary furniture and costumes. (Don’t worry the necessary yellow stockings and cross garters are there, in style!)
They also had to replace their Malvolio due to illness and the brave, baritone, brainy Kameron Going took over with only a couple weeks of rehearsal. (I expected a script in hand but he DID memorize all those lines!)
Kameron also played Antonio, friend to Sebastian (Mark Polzin) who played the presumed-drowned brother to Viola (Anne Marie Foley) who had disguised herself as a boy/eunuch - and hence was mistaken for Sebastian in one of those how-can-they-NOT-tell-these-people-apart Shakespearean mistaken-identity plots. It would have been helpful if Kameron had some identifying costume piece, such as a scarf, to help us determine immediately whether he was portraying Antonio or Malvolio in any given scene.
Steve Ledyard was an appropriately sloppy drunk as Toby Belch, with his bumbling sidekick Charles Hoogstraten as Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Dale Williams was Feste the Fool, full of convoluted jokes plus some singing, and even playing ukulele. Iris Raine Paul was the feisty Olivia, besotted with the earnest “Cesario” who was really Viola in disguise.
Shakespeare devotees are devoted, and this sincere troupe carries it on. Kudos to director/founder Mike Stewart. His gobo-lightiing enhanced the simple set and his harpsichord(?) music between scenes gave us that Elizabethan mood.
Twelfth Night continues at 7 pm Thur/Fri/Sat at Hannah Community Center through March 24. $10 tickets are available at the front desk.