Twelfth Night (The Public Theater) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (113)
See it if You love inclusive, diverse casts and excellent acting. The music was wonderful! It was an all around fun evening!
Don't see it if You are a Shakespeare purist. If you don't enjoy a fun, lively performance.
See it if You love musicals, enjoy Shakespearean plots, enjoy shows that mix professional actors w/ amateur (but talented) actors, love outdoor shows.
Don't see it if You hate musicals, hate being outdoors, loathe Shakespeare (though the language here is largely adapted.) Read more
See it if You’re a fan of Shakespeare, musical theater, lots of people on stage, infectious high spirits and good ole showbiz!
Don't see it if You like your Shakespeare straight. Read more
See it if you love clever music, tight editing, great acting, beautiful colours, and an overall wonderful atmosphere
Don't see it if you are a total Shakespeare purist OR are totally anti-Shakespeare (though this may be the show to change your mind).
See it if You want to see a musicalized version of this play which successfully blends the play’s melancholy love-story with its ribald merry-making
Don't see it if If you’re a stickler that all of the original text be included.
See it if you love Shakespeare done for the modern audience, your belief in theatre is that anyone and everyone can do theatre
Don't see it if you dislike the outdoors, you want polished and perfect performances, you hate comedy
See it if You like the rock musical version of Two Gentlemen of Verona. This is closer in feel to a musical based on a Shakespeare work.
Don't see it if You are a Shakespeare originalist. Dislike changes to his works. Read more
See it if You want to have 90 minutes of pure joy. If you love a Good Shakespeare comedy, with great singing and community spirit.
Don't see it if You don’t like Shakespeare turned into a rocus musical.
Critic Reviews (37)
"A sweet alternative reality...summoned by Kwei-Armah and Eustis, and Taub...What they and their team have conjured is a Platonic ideal of the crazy salad that is New York City in the silly season...Taub and Kwei-Armah have extended the original play’s consideration of the ambiguities of identity to address an age in which the divisions between sexes and classes paradoxically feel both more porous and unbridgeable than ever....It’s empathy that makes this production feel like such a blessing."
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“Colorful, free-wheeling musical adaptation...As fast as it is loose: It has been trimmed to a fleet 90 minutes...Not much of Shakespeare's language remains, but the storytelling is lean and clear. In addition to Taub, who has a knockout voice, a few other seasoned performers anchor the cast adeptly...This production is about the spirit, not the letter; it's about making theater as accessible as possible...It's block-party Shakespeare, and everyone's invited."
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“I found myself spending long portions of the ensuing ninety minutes wondering why, despite my sincere desire to be swept up in the show’s cheerful shenanigans, my heart wasn’t quite in it...The play’s tale...remains intact—and, I should say, perfectly legible—but the heartbeat of its text is dulled somewhat, chopped up to make room for songs instead of speeches...There’s a buoyant, throw-it-all-at-the-wall kind of energy at work that at times is successfully infectious.”
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"At least as good as any of the new musicals that have opened in the past decade, and better than all but a handful of them. Indeed, Ms. Taub’s tuneful pop-soul score is reminiscent of a big-budget Disney show, only without the soul-shriveling slickness of a cold-hearted commodity musical like 'Frozen'... I can do no more in this space than suggest its limitless pleasures, not the least of which is a fetching performance by Ms. Taub as Feste, who is an accordion-toting street singer."
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“Vibrant, contemporary and very funny...This colorful, spirited production is a joy from start to finish...Taub’s lyrics cleverly convey the Bard’s tale with a decidedly contemporary edge...So generous in spirit is this production that even the vain Malvolio gets a big, Broadway-style number, not to mention some respect and compassion."
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“The kind of outdoor summer theater that transcends bad weather...The co-creators take Shakespeare’s themes and wrap them in an ebullient package, making sure everything about this production says ‘welcome’. With a score of catchy tunes and ardent performances, it’s a happy marriage of a classic play with a contemporary execution...The co-directors create bursts of energy as they cram the stage with the colossal ensemble and draw gratifying performances from the cast."
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“Illyria has never been so welcoming...This freewheeling version...proves a consistent delight. Purists may blanch, but everyone else will be thoroughly charmed....Despite the broad humor on display, the adaptation doesn't stint on the piece's emotional power...It's the amateur performers who truly make the evening shine, their energy and enthusiasm at being onstage entirely infectious...There have been other musical versions of the play before, but none as giddily pleasurable as this one."
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“A 90-minute sprint that tosses out a lot of 17th-century verse in favor of contemporary lyrics. At times that does give the impression of two shows sewn, artfully if not seamlessly, together...Even the sometime use of sign, plus a brass band that trails Olivia, a smattering of sword play, and just the sheer size of the cast gives this 'Twelfth Night' a gleeful all-in feel. It rarely hits hilarious highs but delights with a steady insistence and overwhelms with a tidal wave of enthusiasm."
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