Originality somewhat elevates ‘Illyria’

Georgia Shakespeare’s production impressive at times, uneven overall.

Fueled by all the requisite contrivances that come with the territory (mismatched lovers, mistaken identities and such), Shakespeare’s famous romantic comedy “Twelfth Night” involves a pair of twins, Viola and Sebastian, both of whom presume the other has perished at sea, after a shipwreck washes them ashore on separate beaches in the mythical land of Illyria.

Viola proceeds to masquerade as Cesario, the dutiful “manservant” to Duke Orsino, who enlists his new page to help him woo the fair maiden Olivia. Viola inevitably falls for the Duke; Olivia inevitably falls for Cesario; and once he arrives on the scene, inevitably, Sebastian falls for Olivia.

The plot might seem as vaguely familiar as it can be to most of us in the audience, as though we’d seen it all before, if not in this particular play, then in any number of the bard’s other works in this vein. To the credit of John R. Briggs — he adapted the script, co-wrote the songs and directs the show — Georgia Shakespeare’s production of “Illyria: A Twelfth Night Musical” puts enough of an original stamp on the material to offset some of its more formulaic aspects.

But the overall results are uneven. Viola/Cesario, Olivia, Orsino and Sebastian, for instance, essentially become the secondary characters in this version of events, in deference to emphasizing the supporting clowns in the story (Malvolio, Sir Toby Belch, et al.).

In terms of the casting, there’s also a clear distinction between which members of the ensemble are the classically trained actors (regardless of their singing abilities) and which members are the similarly versed singers (regardless of their acting skills).

In “Shrew,” the Briggs-conceived musical treatment of “The Taming of the Shrew” the company performed in 1993 “Illyria: A Twelfth Night Musical” Grade: B- Through Aug. 5 (in rotating repertory with“Much Ado About Nothing,”opening June 22, and“The Importance of Being Earnest,” opening July 6). 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays; 7 p.m. Sundays (no performances Tuesday-June 20). $15-$45. Conant Performing Arts Center (at Oglethorpe University), 4484 Peachtree Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-5041473, gashakespeare.org.

Some parts sink, some parts swim. and 2010, the songs were of a unified piece, namely done in the style of an old Fred AstaireGinger Rogers movie.

Here, most of the songs (cowritten by Eric Frampton) basically function as stand-alone pieces instead, running a gamut that wavers willy-nilly between rock, country, jazz, gospel, doo-wop, tango and calypso.

The spirited production numbers (choreographed by Jen MacQueen) primarily utilize a canned instrumental track, although music director Seth Davis occasionally provides live accompaniment on an electronic keyboard.

Impressively, a couple of tunes feature co-stars Travis Smith and Eugene H. Russell IV (as the fools Feste and Fabian) on guitar and saxophone, respectively.

For all the belabored buffoonery of those caterwauling clowns (played by the likes of Chris Kayser, Allen O’Reilly and Mark Cabus, with Megan McFarland a delightful standout as the buxom maid Maria), the hilarious highlight of the show belongs to Courtney Patterson’s Viola/Cesario and Joe Knezevich’s Orsino trading shots of tequila.

A real mixed bag, this remounted “Illyria” (Briggs first staged it for the troupe in 1996) offers a little bit of something for everyone — which doesn’t necessarily mean that it always adds up to much on the whole. state where corporal punishment remains legal in schools, many responses referred to Scripture that McFarland posted later that day: “Prov 22:15 says, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

On Sunday, while Dollar was disputing the allegations at his World Changers Church International in College Park, McFarland — father of a 15year-old son and 20-year-old daughter — was telling his congregation that while he does not condone child abuse, he could have walked in Dollar’s shoes.

“It could have happened to me and probably most of the people in our congregation that believe in discipline,” said McFarland.

McFarland said his parents used “whippings” with a switch to discipline him and his siblings in rural Mississippi. With his children, he limits discipline to spankings on the bottom. And as his children have gotten older, he has searched for other methods of correcting their behavior.

“I will try everything else,” he said. “Taking privileges or punishment, but if a child is willfully disobedient, defiant or disrespectful, I still think corporal punishment is effective.”

Some experts and other faith leaders disagree.

“I don’t think it is necessary to raise your hands to a child,” said Pastor John Wierwille of Berea Mennonite Church in Atlanta. “We don’t think violence is acceptable ever by Christians.” It is important, he said, to live by example, whether that be encouraging prayer or preventing violence — a lesson he said can be drawn from Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

“What matters for us is asking, was Jesus the sort of person who would push or hit people to get his point across?” Wierwille said. “He taught in metaphors because the truth is plain before our eyes. We know the difference between right and wrong.”

When the book of Proverbs can be cited by supporters and detractors of corporal punishment, it’s not surprising that right and wrong gets muddied. Rev. Anthony David, senior minister of Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, said it’s one example of the Bible’s paradoxes.

“So much of Scripture continues to be inspiring. On the other hand, there are places in Scripture where we find things that really are wrong — that really go against our best knowledge of what we know today,” he said.

Discipline, he said, is about building character, and any action should be aimed in that direction. “When you violate a kid’s physical boundaries like that, you are setting them up to be pushed around as adults or to push others around. It is not the kind of character we want to build,” David said.

While everyone agrees that how we discipline youth is a topic worthy of discussion, it is also one of the hardest to address because it touches so many sensitive areas, including parenting style, religion and race.

“You can’t tell a parent they are right or wrong as to how they discipline their child,” said Keba Richmond-Green, executive director of Dream Girlz Unlimited Inc., an organization that helps empower girls ages 13 to 25. In her parenting workshops, RichmondGreen often hears from parents frustrated with children’s disrespect. “We can give them tools and offer assistance to help them do things a little better,” she said.

It is necessary, said Stone Mountain-based family therapist Torri Love Griffin, to teach children that their actions have consequences, but to do so with respect. “We have to add respect to our relationships even if it is a younger child,” said Griffin. “Parenting involves taking care of someone who may not understand that care. The parent is doing what they are doing out of love.”