Shakespearean Criticism

Twelfth Night (Vol. 74) | David Patrick Stearns (review date 17 July 1998)

David Patrick Stearns (review date 17 July 1998)

SOURCE: Stearns, David Patrick. β€œTwelfth Night: Helen Hunt Isn't Its Only Star.” USA Today (17 July 1998): 11E.

[In the following review, Stearns assesses the production of Twelfth Night directed by Nicholas Hytner, which featured Helen Hunt as Viola. Stearns describes the production as a whole as lavish but not overdone, and comments that Hunt's performance was sincere and strong but failed to fully reveal the subtextual potential of the role.]

In Broadway shorthand, the summer's hot ticket is β€œthe Helen Hunt Twelfth Night.”

That's how much theatergoers are anticipating the Oscar-winning actress' rare stage appearance. But truth be told, Lincoln Center's production (* * * out of four) of Shakespeare's misbegotten-love comedy is so sumptuously produced and provocatively cast that she could phone in her performance and no one would be terribly upset.

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