Twelfth Night (The Public Theater) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (113)
See it if Shaina Taub’s songs & inclusive ensemble cast mixing professionals and a cross section of fellow city residents makes this a winning combo
Don't see it if No reason except if you don’t have time to try to get to see this delightful play with a great message of empathy and gender diaparity
See it if you're up for a light-hearted evening, a hugely diverse cast, lovely original music and voices, and a bit of Shakespeare thrown in.
Don't see it if you need your theater serious or educational. You're outside, there's Shaina Taub, frozen sangria, music, and laughter. Go. Enjoy.
See it if you enjoy a jolly romp through Shakespeare land. This comedy of mixed identities offers a fresh look, with music no less.
Don't see it if you don't like musicals with large casts performed under the summer sky.
See it if If you like Shakespeare, this is one of the best shows I have seen. Public did a great job with this one. Great directing Great all around
Don't see it if If you do not like Shakespeare. If you not like shows outside.
See it if you enjoy "theater for the people" that is accessible to everyone and reflects the diversity of NYC. Shakespeare in the Park at its best!
Don't see it if you want a traditional and unabridged interpretation of Shakespeare and really don't like musicals. You don't like penny stinkers like me.
See it if You like to be transported by the magic of theatre; enjoy discovering new voices who are writing musicals; enjoy colorful & clever staging!
Don't see it if You are a Shakespeare purist; don't like musicals; are averse to free-wheeling joy in the theatre; like quiet and intimate small cast dramas
See it if You want a fun night of Shakespeare and great new music by Shaina Taub. Entertaining and a great night under the stars!
Don't see it if You don’t like musical versions of Shakespeare that stray from the text or a very muddy and not really funny side plot with Toby and friends
See it if you enjoy musical adaptions of Shakespeare with a jazzy, diverse and gender bending bent. This was fun, catchy and lively, even in the rain.
Don't see it if you don't care to have your Shakespeare tampered with and you don't enjoy musicals.
Critic Reviews (37)
“Solid direction and excellent music...Taub, who also plays Feste, is responsible for all of the excellent music and lyrics...A few of the actors struggle, and the performances aren't perfectly even. But the show gets a major boost from its main performers...Taub's acting isn't quite up to her music...Still, this is a minor issue since it can't override the quality of Shakespeare's work or the energy and enthusiasm of everyone working on this production.”
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“The production contains only a soupçon of its text...However, that doesn’t keep this production from being an entertaining lark...Taub’s accessible, upbeat and beautifully orchestrated, jaunty number are made all the better by a delightful primary cast...Puts the 'community' in community theater. It’s a fun, easy event that not only introduces Shakespeare to all comers, but provides a light-hearted evening of music and laughs.”
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"It is summer and time to give your fools a night off because Shaina Taub’s genius coupled with the creative mind of Kwame Kwei-Armah strike again...Get over there and stand in line for tickets...This show is a community effort, which brings to it the richness of collaboration of minds from all over our city...It was exhilarating to see this kind of inclusiveness in the piece...Alas, adaptations sometimes suffer a little loss of story line. But who cares too much when we are so entertained?”
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"Although somewhat overcast with rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, the mood onstage for 'Twelfth Night' in Central Park at The Delacorte Theater couldn’t have been sunnier!...Listen carefully to the words of Taub’s songs and you hear a 21st century sensibility, especially in terms of feminism and acceptance...The combination of amateur and professional in the cast provides unprecedented energy, enthusiasm and spirit on the Delacorte stage."
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“Magnificently fun musical version of ‘Twelfth Night’...The brilliant and delicious Taub who not only wrote the intoxicatingly fun music and lyrical adaptation, but played the fool Feste with a perfect frivolity, the show perfectly encapsulates the charming treaty on love and attraction...The playfulness of the ensemble enliven every scene they participate in with energy and joy...Kwei-Armah and Taub get the balance just right, perfectly and enthusiastically bringing everyone together."
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"The intricacies of Shakespeare’s play recede to the background in The Public Works’ musical adaptation of 'Twelfth Night' at the Delacorte Theater, but due to the inventiveness of creators Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub, it doesn’t matter...The score is robust with lyrical dexterity and musically distinctive in its brass-and-accordion orchestration...In this production, Viola is the only character who seems like an actual person. The others are secondary to her."
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"I found the new version just as entertaining– but also improved as a work of theater....I saw the blue cast members, who were noticeably more streamlined and in sync than what I remembered from 2016, undoubtedly because of the extra time to practice. They felt more like townsfolk from Illyria rather than non-actors thrilled to be on a New York stage...Taub’s songs are all tuneful...Taub’s 'Twelfth Night' makes an effort to make a seamless whole out of verses written four centuries apart."
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"Taub has written music and lyrics for this adaptation, and the result is an absolute delight. Her work never meanders away from the play’s structure, but rather adds to the celebration, along with choreography by Latarro...The rest of the principal cast does their characters proud...'Twelfth Night,' among all of its flourish, evokes one word: joy. Every second is filled with it, from the silly machinations of the self-preserving Malvolio to Feste’s witty yet sincere commentary."
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