Hands down, Patrick Thomas McCarthy has written a slam-dunk retelling of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” aptly entitled “12th Nighted” which enjoyed its final performance at Fresh Fruit Festival 2016 on Sunday July 17, 2016 at the Wild Project. There are familiar characters: Cesario and Viola (Alexandra Bonesho); Olivia (Anne Pasquale); Maria (Alyssa Abraham); Mel Volio (Keith Herron); and Toby (David Palmer Brown). And there are reimagined and additional characters to the Shakespearean roster. Four couples – rather than two – find wedded bliss: one of the couples is Olivia’s adopted gay son Francesco D'Assisi (Lorenzo Lucchetti) and Antonio Argento (Keith Herron) creator of rather risqué Holy Pictures using Vito Vittorio Vitale (Jonathan E. Barker) – aka Viola’s twin orphaned brother Sebastian – as his near naked model.

Although the shenanigans are mostly reminiscent of Shakespeare’s 1600 celebration of the end of the long Christmas season, playwright McCarthy has supercharged the iconic “mature comedy” with a delightful LGBTQ flair set in “gay, swinging, 1960s Little Italy in New York City.” The members of the ensemble cast (which includes Blaine Mizer who stands in for Malvolio) uniformly deliver well-developed outrageous characters whose unique and believable conflicts drive “12th Nighted’s” madcap post-Shakespearean plot.

Director Patrick Aran keeps the antics moving along; however, there is room for a quicker pace at times to keep the farce from bogging down. And there are some scenes which could easily be cut by a few minutes each. This would tighten the play a bit and make it even more engaging and entertaining.

As it stands, Mr. McCarthy’s retelling is a splendid way to celebrate – as Maria states – the need for all of us to do what we need to do “to get along” – as you will as it were. There is a myriad of references to the canon of the American musical theatre, including nods at “Hello, Dolly” and “Carousel” and others even the characters find a bit shocking.

Production and sound design by Katherine Hammond.

Lights, set, and props design by Patrick Aran.

Costume coordination by Susan Cook.

Stage management by Ioannis Bakageorgos.

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