Twelfth Night, directed by Dona Werner Freeman, creates two worlds in Illyria: the real world in which everyday life occurs and an elevated realm where the rules of the real world do not apply.

Twelfth Night is about the collapse of the enlightened realm of Sir Toby (Aaron Wulff) and his revelers. Wulff's performance was excellent and his boisterous attitude transplanted me into his realm. Sir Toby is a character that lives off of his shrewd manipulation of his wealthy niece Olivia (Julie Lachance), and Sir Andrew (Erik Wallin).

In Sir Toby's section of the house, he is the indisputable king. Wulff created this feeling with a strong vocalization of his part. Many of the comedic scenes were driven by slapstick, and sometimes lines were lost due to outrageous antics happening on stage.

However, I thought that the entire cast did an excellent job of capturing the verbal wit that lies within Twelfth Night. Alex Morph was an absolute treat; his grand facial expressions, strong voice, and good sense of comedic timing allowed his character (Malvolio) to truly become the centerpiece of the worldly side of the play.

As Sir Toby's antitheses, I was drawn to want revenge on him from the beginning and delighted in the scheme against him. Morph convinced me that Malvolio hated the revelers, and seemed to be against entertainment and will. Morph's accurate portrayal of Malvolio sets a good backdrop upon which the plot against him is laid, and I was delighted to see him be caught up in the very abandonment that he disdains when he passionately pursues Olivia.

Twelfth Night also contains an element of hopelessly romantic love, which embodied Orsino (Dave Wagner). There can be a tendency to allow this character to become a figure of fun, but Wagner does not allow this to happen. He brings out Orsino's lack of self-knowledge by appearing hopelessly lovesick for Olivia. "O then, unfold the passion of my love, surprise her with discourse of my dear faith" is delivered very emotionally.

I agreed with the directorial choices for the entire play save one central part. The collapse of the elevated realm and its consequential collision with the real world was not as jarring as I would have wanted. Both worlds were built up so wonderfully that when they finally met, I was expecting more of an explosion.

Sir Toby's fight with Sebastian was one that should have left him bloodied and almost appearing destitute. When he turns on his friend Sir Andrew it is a pivotal moment in the performance and I felt that I should have left the play with that moment etched into my memory­­but it was not so. Malvolio comes upon the stage after being freed and leaves with an ultimatum that he would get revenge upon the society that has cast him out.

Antonio (Brandon Hillard) is facing execution at the end of the play. This performance had a majority of the cast absent for the end, and I felt that this isolation of happiness should have been emphasized. This was not because of unconvincing acting, but this production stressed the happy unification on stage at the end of the play as opposed to the tragic fall that occurs with the characters off stage.

Twelfth Night creates two worlds, the real world and the realm of irresponsibility that finally collapses. Not only does this world cave in, but it smashes down upon the real world and this collision, seen in Act Five, turns the irresponsibility and happiness into age, vice, and disillusionment.

Feste (Peter Middlecamp) connects these two worlds. Middlecamp's performance was extremely perceptive, humorous, and thoroughly wonderful. His comedic timing was on every single time; Feste carries a bulk of Twelfth Night's message. It is Feste who in his final speech shows us the progression from the elevated world to the real, that is as inevitable as "the wind and the rain." His performance was what really made this production not only carry humorous elements, but more importantly delivered the message that all good times have to come to an end.

This production of Twelfth Night brought me from the world in which I live to the fanciful world that has no rules, and back again. Feste reminds us at the end of the play that although "our play is done" we can come back to this wonderful realm and "we all strive to please you every day." The combination of quality performances across the board and a message that was conveyed made this production of Twelfth Night thoroughly enjoyable.