“Twelfth Night” is Aliso Niguel Theatre Company’s upcoming play about a comedy originally written by William Shakespeare in 1602.
The story follows twins Viola and Sebastian, and after being shipwrecked and separated on the shores of Illyria, they both think the other twin is dead. The sister disguises herself as a man named Cesario, and becomes a messenger for Duke Orsino, but ends up falling in love with him, causing complications, as Orsino is already in love with Countess Olivia, and Orsino sends Cesario off to deliver a message expressing Orsino’s love for Olivia. However, in turn, Olivia falls for Viola in her male disguise as Cesario, causing a love triangle between Cesario, Duke Orsino and Countess Olivia. The play touches on topics such as, mistaken identity and gender identity, and also includes subplots and other complexities.
Aliso Niguel Theatre company decided to set the scene in the 1820’s in New Orleans with a pirate theme, because there was piracy occurring during that time. Mr. Golden, the Theatrical Arts Teacher, realized that there were inherent nautical themes within the play, as the story takes place in a coastal city. With his combined interest in pirates and Shakespeare, he decided to set the play in New Orleans as Mardi Gras and Carnival events are celebrated around the same time as the feast of Epiphany, the twelfth day after Christmas, which is what the name of the play “Twelfth Night” refers to.
Mr. Golden says, “I want [the audience] to come in with expectations about what they know about Shakespeare, and I want to blow all those expectations away, because many people come in at Shakespeare thinking they won’t understand it or it’s too hard to get. I want them to leave understanding everything completely. I want them to go in thinking ‘I know what Shakespeare is,’ and leave going ‘I had no idea Shakespeare could be that way.’ Because of the way we are setting the play, and the way we are telling the story, I think they are going to have a lot of fun and they’re going to enjoy, laugh and think.”
The actors and actresses are learning how to bring Shakespeare out, especially in terms of making it accessible to a student audience that maybe does not read Shakespeare a lot; making it more palatable and understandable for the audience, while adding a fun twist by setting it in New Orleans.
Talar Keshishian (12) who plays Antonio in the play says, “I think the play is coming along really well so far, we are a couple weeks from opening, and all the technical elements, cast and crew, it’s all coming along together and it is looking really good. “’Twelfth Night’ is a classic Shakespeare comedy, and I think it is one of his wittiest comedies, with the most wisdom to it. Also, it is really cool to see these themes of humanity put on stage in such a brilliant way.”
“Twelfth Night” will be live in Aliso Niguel Theatres on Oct. 26-27 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
