I saw the Globe Theatre Company of London perform "Twelfth Night" yesterday, using original practices. And by "original practices," of course, I mean men in drag playing the parts of the female characters. This was standard in the 1600s when the plays were first performed, and I guess I was expecting something like drag queens. I was wrong. The gender-bending worked to the play's advantage; the actor playing Olivia showed a young woman in love rather amusingly and more convincingly than I thought was possible. It wasn't about falsettos and heavy makeup -- it was posture, gesture, costuming, and smaller vocal tricks. Eventually I stopped noticing it altogether.

I had fully expected the whole thing to be a throwback, like a eunuch taking the stage to sing Italian opera. The production added a new layer of amusement to some of the women-pretending-to-be-men scenes, since they became men-pretending-to-be-women-pretending-to-be-men. Much credit goes to Mark Rylance — the director who also played the part of Olivia — as well as to Michael Brown as Viola and (less of a stretch) Peter Shorey as Maria, the old battleax of a scheming servant. The addition of period instruments (go sackbut go!) and better-than-average integration of music into the performance helps as well.

Next time you're in London, or if you are lucky enough to live on their tour cities, do go see this production. You won't regret it.