Word: heeley
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Actually as well as metaphorically, this Twelfth Night is a composition in warm colors rather than bright ones. Desmond Heeley's permanent set, which does a great deal to determine the mood of the play, is done in browns and golds, never drab but always subdued...
...even very vigorous. The basis of the comic subplot is the duping of Malvolio, the puritanical steward, by a group of cheerful tosspots--a little joke which has occasionally struck critics as cruel, since Malvolio is at one point chained in a dungeon as a madman. Before Mr. Heeley's backcloth, under Mr. Benthall's guidance, it appears a mild, if merry, escapade, instinct with finesse...
...trained in doing it; and she does it, on the whole, quite well. The extent to which this--and little more--can be said about nearly the whole company is an indication of the extent to which this Twelfth Night is a group effort. Set, costumes (also by Mr. Heeley), and music are more important to the success of the production than is usually the case. This success rests finally on the subtlety with which these elements, and the acting, were made to combine and to complement each other and the text; probably, therefore, (though no one can be sure...
...perhaps thank its stars not to boast any; this Twelfth Night, as directed by Michael Benthall, gets its fine effect from its ensemble effect. Actors who know how to speak Shakespeare, to do wonders with an intonation, know also how to join hands. Desmond Heeley, with his charming costumes and simple set resembling an old, delicately drawn tailpiece or design, knows how to achieve a background. There is for once in the theater the sense of letting something deathless prove its mettle and not of belaboring something lifeless to move its limbs...