Collaborating with William Shakespeare is no easy task, adapting any of the Bard's plays requires Herculean skill. Think Kenneth Branagh, Joe Papp, Orson Welles or Franco Zeffirelli who all got themselves into tight spots but successfully rolled that heavy theatrical boulder up hill.

Linda Nieves Powell's "Twelfth Night in Spanish Harlem" contorts Shakespeare into what appeared to be Shakespeare but only chunks of the original play were grafted onto an unconvincing mish-mosh of a modern story.

In Shakespeare's comedy "Twelfth Night," Sebastian and his sister Viola are shipwrecked on an island and separated. In order to find her brother, Viola disguises herself as a man to find her lost sibling. She infiltrates the court of Count Orsino. A comedy of errors, missed meetings and confusion then ensues. "Twelfth Night" has some of Shakespeare's most remembered lines like "If music be the food of love, play on" and "Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, others have greatness thrust upon them."

Shakespeare's collaborator, to be sure, Nieves-Powell is a great, gifted and talented artist. She is the author of "Yo Soy Latina," and a theatrical collaborator who has given countless actors and theatre folk opportunities they would never would have received else where. She towers above many and the Ultimate Latina Theatre Festival at the Nuyorican Poets Cafes is proof of her dedication and commitment to Latino arts. With "Twelfth Night in Spanish Harlem," Nieves-Powell took a huge risk by not working on her own splendid, original work. Nieves-Powell and the ULTF stand in importance, only after 3 years, with the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, Pregones and Repertorio Espanol. However, the New York Yankees can't win the World Series every year.

"Twelfth Night in Spanish Harlem" is set in a night club where audiences are confused since only a black curtain decorated with stars gave no indication of place, and neither did the actor's performances. Were the characters in a club, someone's home, a private dressing room or even East Harlem? They could have floated in mid-air above the moon.

Problems continue with Jenny Saldana's Maria belonging in another play altogether with her hoop earrings and smarmy home girl attitude. Graciany Miranda portrays the Fool as a stereotypical foppish gay man. Alex Pereira and Manuel Fihman gave humorless performances in their comedic roles.

Flubbing lines and uncomfortable with Elizabethan English, most of the performances didn't work with the actor's high nasal New York accents in the forced setting.

Unsatisfying theatre is one thing but bad Shakespeare is like taking fillet mignon and turning it into McDonald's hamburger.

Stand out performances come from Cristina Carrion as Olivia and Monica O'Malley as Viola. Both actors commanded their roles with control and assurance in spite of the troubles surrounding them. O'Malley, who spent most of the night in male drag, was a vision, charming as she pretended to be Cesario. Even while wearing a dark hat and sporting a bushy mustache, O'Malley was lovely grace-under-pressure incarnate.

However, many times music, dancing and pantomime took the place of fine acting. Nieves-Powell took Shakespeare out of the Shakespeare. She was indecisive about Shakespeare or uncertain about her modern take on her subject. She could have used the story and written new dialogue or shown more respect for the playwright's original words and stage direction without working at cross purposes and not accomplishing any of the  goals she had set for herself.

An adaptation should improve or illuminate the original work allowing the audience to see new revelations ---audiences didn't get the full experience of Shakespeare or Spanish Harlem. This reviewer dust protest too much but "Twelfth Night in Spanish Harlem" lacks the greatness thrust upon it.