Twelfth Night

Improbable as it may seem for an artistic director of a Shakespeare company, Jonathan Moscone (who came to Cal Shakes a season ago) had never directed the Bard's work before this show. His inexperience at directing Shakespeare proves to be an asset. Moscone's Twelfth Night is a sultry, surreal dreamscape set against a 1930s backdrop, in which the characters struggle with love, death, and mistaken identities; it's fresh and fun without being gimmicky. Moscone's vision takes root in John Coyne's imaginative scenic design: A larger-than-life picture frame reveals the stormy sea and a moody horizon, characters play on an Astroturf golf course with a water trap, and triangular "trees" with pink satin interiors yield champagne. Meg Neville's beautiful, playful costumes and a live three-piece band complete the production.