VIOLA—A “STRANGELY, MOVINGLY PASSIVE HEROINE”? Walter Kaiser has an insightful review (a portion of the review is here ) in the New York Review of Books of the Shakespeare Globe production of Twelfth Night, starring Mark Rylance as Olivia. I was startled, however, to see Kaiser refer to Viola as “the strangely, movingly passive heroine of the play”. Cast ashore alone in a strange land, Viola disguises herself as young man, makes her way at Orsino’s court, forces herself in to Olivia’s court, and fights a duel. I don’t know how much more she could do.
Kaiser says that: “Audiences at the performances I’ve attended have been overcome with delight….” We were snowed out of our first attempt to see the production. Nick and Jane took our tickets, and called us as soon as the play ended, “overcome with delight”. We will be seeing the play this afternoon, before the latest snow arrives.