SOURCE: "Acting Out Illyria," in The Times Literary Supplement, No. 4398, July 17, 1987, p. 770.

I was once taken to task for describing Twelfth Night as the most elusive of Shakespeare's comedies, but Bill Alexander's new production confirms me in my opinion. Much about it feels right. The setting—an open space half-surrounding a mounting jumble of white, sunbaked archways, receding alleys, little steps, windows, and benches fixed to walk—permits one scene to flow into the next with an easy continuity. Although the firmly Adriatic setting (this is Illyria, Lady) sacrifices the sense of two distinct households, the ethnic costumes and customs provide a useful compromise between fantasy and localizing actuality.

In the opening scenes, the world of the play authentically establishes itself. On her first entry Viola, carrying her brother's clothes, is still choking back sobs for his apparent loss. Roger Allam's Sir Toby, younger and handsomer than usual...