DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended
"...It's a disk, or a lens, or giant kaleidoscope, thirty feet high and thirty feet wide. Or a big round stained-glass window, maybe, slanted like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. A few of the pieces of glass at the bottom have been stolen, or they melted, or somebody licked them and licked them until they dissolved, perhaps a child. Whatever it is, it holds your attention because it takes up half the stage, and because it looks like it might fall, and because you wonder what it means, and what it's for, and what might happen to it."
Washington Examiner - Highly Recommended
"...As the brilliant, whimsical "Twelfth Night" at the Folger Theatre illustrates, Shakespeare also showed how this need for love makes people lose all reason. Sensitively directed by Robert Richmond, Folger's "Twelfth Night" brings out the play's intense comedy, while retaining a touch of sympathy for the character whose love is unrequited."
WeLoveDC - Highly Recommended
"...By implementing classical and early 20th century tunes, the score opens audiences to a Shakespeare-infused world without a bar to entry. To heighten the effect, the performers show impressive vocal and instrumental skill throughout the piece. The result is sensory bliss and a strangely personal connection with the company of players."
Talkin Broadway - Recommended
"...Twelfth Night is easily William Shakespeare's most musical play-it's been adapted numerous times for the musical stage-and Richmond builds the atmosphere of its disguised and misguided lovers through music of the period, both classical (Debussy's "Clair de Lune") and popular ("By the Light of the Silvery Moon," "A Bicycle Built for Two"). Several of the actors also play musical instruments and, indeed, they perform an abbreviated music hall show during intermission."
Washington City Paper - Recommended
"...The one character who can never be upstaged in Twelfth Night is Malvolio, here a bowler-wearing butler played by Richard Sheridan Willis, who can pull a laugh just by flicking his eyes. Costume designer Mariah Hale has brought the Bard's terrifying description of the supercilious servant's "yellow stockings, cross gartered" to eye-offending life. Along with a bumblebee-striped knit onesie, she completes Malvolio's ensemble with a string of pearls, for some reason. In a nice touch, Willis drops his educated accent once Malvolio is brought low by a disproportionately cruel prank."
Washingtonian - Recommended
"...With so many strong performers and a number of original ideas, Richmond's interpretation is a crowd pleaser, and the musical scenes in which actors pick up different instruments are touching, even if they frequently slow the pace to a too-languorous crawl. It's hard to say that the period setting adds anything new to such a familiar work, but the cast's supple comic timing and malevolent undertones make it a Twelfth Night to ponder long after the lights go up."
ShowBizRadio - Highly Recommended
"...Requited love, heartache and redemption tie the story together at the end of the show. Overall, the energy and veracity of the cast as they showcased their wide range of talents and passions makes it a show worth seeing."
MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...In other words, even if you have seen Twelfth Night a hundred times before, you should see it again, because this time it will leave you delirious with giddy, and understanding just what is meant by a comic catharsis."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
The tale of tragic loss and triumphant reunion largely runs through the chimerical performance of Broadway and TV vet Mark Harelik. Harelik captures lightning in a bottle as cursed King Leontes
