SOURCE: "Two Twelfth Nights: New Haven and New York," in Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 2, Summer, 1981, pp. 196-99.

David Mamet's production of Twelfth Night opened with the sound of a distant flute. Orsino and Curio were leaning against a wall, and were lost in thought. The flute stopped and all was still as we experienced the vacancy of Orsino's expression and the stasis that engulfed him. Life without love, it seemed, was more than sad; it was plainly dull. The mood was right for the opening; both serious and laughable, it pulled us in as it offered a perspective. Mamet was careful not to rush or force his effects. He allowed each scene to search its form. Seeing, for example, that there is much talk in the opening acts, he enabled this talk to occur with an unhurried confidence, establishing character, nuance, and theme as he proceeded. New colors...