What made artistic co-directors Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott decide on “Twelfth Night, Or What You Will” to open A Noise Within’s season  at its new home in Pasadena? And on Halloween weekend?! There are no ghosts, spooks or curses here in Shakespeare’s comedy, but a rollicking good time filled with gender-bending tricks and a few treats.

This outing of Shakespeare’s trusty though slightly troublesome comedy is set in Cuba with salsa rhythms and women in fresh, white cotton dresses. Castro’s Cuba isn’t so happy, and costume designer Angela Balogh Calin puts us in the 1940s if that bikini worn by Olivia is to be a guideline.

Shakespeare’s tale of stormy romantic relations begins with a literal tempest. The ship that fraternal twins Viola (Angela Gulner) and Sebastian (Max Rosenak) were aboard sinks. Viola is saved but for her own safety disguises herself as a youth, Cesario.  Under the service of Orsino (Robertson Dean), she is sent to woo Olivia (Abby Craden). Olivia is in deep mourning, but falls fatally and hilariously in love with Cesario.

Olivia’s household includes her uncle, the alcoholic, scamming Sir Toby Belch (Apollo Dukakis)  who encourages Sir Andrew Aguecheek’s hopeless romantic pursuit of his niece mainly to gain access to his money. Toby and Andrew, along with Olivia’s servant Maria (Deborah Strang) have a grudge against the stuffy man servant Malvolio (Geoff Elliott).

Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott offsets the uptight Malvolio’s distorted view of the world with an equally out-of-touch Olivia and Orsino. Craden’s Olivia is indeed, as Feste (Anthony Mark Barrow) suggests, the fool. But Orsino is also a bit off the mark, seeming less than lucid in his first scene (in a bath) and then later as he gets his haircut. He’s privileged, but not really connected with the practical world matters.

The sweet daftness of Olivia and Orsino contrasting with the sour wackiness of Malvolio helps soften the troubling sting of the cruel joke played on Malvolio. The use of voodoo in the hazing of Malvolio is the most inventive part of the Cuban cultural transfer.

The dance and music don’t quite work, but that might be just kinks getting adjusted to the new theater. The transitions aren’t as smooth as with other productions at A Noise Within’s former home in Glendale.

Still, Craden, Dean and Geoff Elliott are in fine comedic form. As Viola, Gulner is earnest and she and Rosenak bear a good resemblance to each other. Although not perfect, this interpretation of “Twelfth Night” is still a treat.

“Twelfth Night, Or What You Will” runs through 16 December 2011. For more information, visit A Noise Within.