Twelfth Night

This recording of one of Shakespeare's beloved comedies is part of the notable Arkangel Complete Shakespeare. The action of the play is illustrated with well-placed sound effects. The clank of coins, the sound of waves, and the scuff of footsteps help to convey the movements of the characters. Niamh Cusack's pretty voice makes her an ideal Viola and a convincing Cesario. Dinsdale Landen's rowdy performance of Sir Toby Belch lives up to the character's name. Confusion may come from the Bard's rapid twists in the doubling of characters and their motives, but the actors perform each line accurately and authentically. The CD is accompanied by a leaflet outlining the action of the plot. R.F. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

The songs are impressively rendered (by Stephen Sutcliffe as Feste) in this romantic comedy of twins and mistaken identity, but other aspects of this performance disappoint. The responses of the live audience give a good indication of the overall merits and drawbacks. They enjoy the low comedy of insults and slapstick but sit silent through the play's more thoughtful humor based on personality and the deceptions of disguise. The actors tend to read their lines without capturing the subtleties of personality. Lewis Gordon as Sir Toby Belch, for example, has too precise diction for this tipsy, party-loving lout. An earnest but uneven production. G.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

Shakespeare's romantic comedy is directed by Nicolas Soames. Disguised as a boy, Viola, a shipwrecked maiden, enters the service of Duke Orsino, with whom she falls in love. He, however, loves Olivia and sends Viola to woo her for him. The cast makes the play easy to follow and has fun with the complications and the comic characters, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Sir Toby Belch, the inflated Malvolio, and the sarcastic Feste. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

In this fully dramatized recording of Shakespeare's most musical play, director Clive Brill wisely designs an approach that emphasizes clarity. The complicated plot about the comic confusions resulting from ship-wrecked twins, physical and psychological disguises, and mis-matched lovers depends at times on visual humor. In spite of such built-in difficulties for audio presentation, the attentive listener can follow the permutations of the plot and its humor quite well in this production. The songs, however, consistently disappoint. They're hurried, seemingly more in an effort to get them over with than to have them add their own romantic and nostalgic flavor to the tone of the play. G.H. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine