SOURCE: A review of Twelfth Night in Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. XXV, No. 4, Autumn, 1974, pp. 391-92.

For the seasoned playgoer any production of Twelfth Night has to compete with invincible memories, and it will be a long time before John Barton's treatment of the play a few years ago finds an effective challenger. Peter Gill is a newcomer to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. His vision is honest, if uninspired; and he took his cue from Narcissus—alias Orsino, Olivia, and Malvolio—gazing at his own image. Indeed the figure of Narcissus in the background was the only pictorial element in the bleakest decor that can ever have been devised for this highly decorative play. The same square box that served for King John, Cymbeline, and Richard II served again, with the difference that the roof had disappeared and the black walls had turned to russet. Cushions for Orsino, a...