Ah, summer! School is out, work slows down and passions heat up in the warm summer air. Theatrically speaking, it's the perfect time for a sexy comedy where no one is what, or who, they seem and life is full of romantic possibilities. In other words, the perfect time for William Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, or 'What You Will—’ which Lincoln Center Theater presented in the summer of 1998 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.
Acting
Helen Hunt's physical comedy as Cesario—she commits completely.
Production
Lincoln Center's airy Mediterranean set, all white columns and summer heat.
Direction
Hytner lets the language breathe while keeping the farce tight.

Director
Nicholas Hytner
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This production marked Helen Hunt's return to theatre after her Oscar win for As Good As It Gets—she reportedly took a massive pay cut to do Shakespeare in summer.
Hytner's staging emphasized the 'Mediterranean holiday' angle to make the 90s audience feel the erotic charge—Orsino literally lounges in swim trunks.
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