'Twelfth Night' gets '20s twist

No need to brush up your Shakespeare to thoroughly enjoy Charleston Stage's zany production of "Twelfth Night" as re-created by Julian Wiles.

Set in the gangland Chicago of the Prohibition era, this new take on one of the Bard's favorite comedies is full of that heady energy of the Roaring Twenties.

Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Charleston Stage, Wiles' hand is everywhere: He not only directed and adapted the 400-year-old play but also did the scenic and lighting design.

While virtually all the words are just as Shakespeare wrote them, the setting and time period are not all that was changed to make this show Charleston's own. Amanda Wansa incorporated tunes of the era with her original music. She plays piano live on stage, providing musical interludes as well as accompanying James Lombardino as Feste, the nightclub headliner comic.

You haven't lived until you've heard "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" a la Cole Porter. Or until you see Olivia, played with lovely restraint by Amber Mann, as the owner of the basement speakeasy. Or Jan Gilbert's Maria, lady's maid morphed into barmaid. Or Christopher Diaz as Orsino, aka The Duke, a mob boss.

Kyle Barnett broadly plays pompous Malvolio with an Irish accent. Nat Jones rivals him for comic timing as Sir Toby Belch, while Eric Brown is the perfect foil as Sir Andrew. Justin Tyler Lewis (Sebastian) and Lindsey Lamb (Viola/Cesario) are splendid as the twins that fuel the daft plot, with all the contrivances, misidentities and bawdiness for which Shakespeare -- and now Wiles -- are justly famous.