Shakespeare seems to be on an upswing with a bounty of Bard-based shows at this year’s Fringe, but nobody has been cunningly short-cutting through Billy Shakes’ canon longer than Tim Mooney, a one-man industry of amusing Elizabethan adaptations. This time, Tim tackles Twelfth Night — the closest thing Shakespeare wrote to a drag musical — as always, without any castmates to lean on, narrating and commentating while playing every character with madcap results.
Mooney’s accelerated edit is accessible even if you’re unfamiliar with the plot of this Epiphany-inspired rom-com, although he doesn’t alter his vocal cadences between characters enough to easily distinguish between Olivia and Orsino, and doesn’t have quite as tight a grasp on his text as he has in past productions. Pacing and pregnant pauses are the soul of comedic timing, so Mooney’s headlong rush through punchlines sometimes prevents laughs from landing.
Just so long as you aren’t seeking subtlety, he delivers the goods where it counts; Tim’s trimmed Twelfth Night doesn’t skimp on the crossed garters or fart jokes, and his scenery-chewing edition of Malvolio’s “greatness thrust upon them” soliloquy is almost worth the price of admission alone.
Breakneck Twelfth Night
Starlite Room, Savoy Orlando
60 minutes; 13 & up
$15
Get tickets
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This article appears in May 14-20, 2025.