Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare

Kristen Clippard Director	Miranda Friel Set Deisgner	Stephanie Peters Costume Designer	Daniel Taylor Lighting Designer
Rew Tippin Sound Designer	Melissa Nathan* AEA Stage Manager	Ingrid Pierson Assistant Stage Manager	Michelle Chesley Assistant Stage Manager

Cast (in order of appearance)

Marshall Taylor Thurman Orsino	Kevin Aoussou Fabian/Curio	Alexandra Curren Valentine/ Officer/ Priest	Katie Croyle Viola	Jake Loewenthal* Antonio/Captain	Bill Van Horn* Sir Toby Belch
Janis Stevens* Maria	Mark Cartier* Sir Andrew Aguecheek	KP Powell Feste	Kedren Spencer* Olivia	James Noel Hoban* Malvolio	Ryan Broussard Sebastian

*Member of Actor’s Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

From the Director

Time & Place: The courtyard between the homes of Olivia and Orsino, January 6, 1890

Twelfth Night is timeless both in its mischievousness and its heart; for our production this timelessness is bound by the stringent cultural mores of the Victorian Era. The Victorian period, being one of strict social etiquette and strong gender bias, feels like the right time for these people to be grappling with these questions: What can we do to find delight in our world? How can we carry on when grief fills the air? What does it mean to love someone outside your own sphere?

Fast on the heels of the holidays, the play examines sadness in a festive season. Some greet the New Year or Epiphany with optimism, some with grief, some with depression, and some with joyous and raucous abandon. Some people, perhaps like Viola and Sebastian, are just plain lost. Through Viola’s trials, we learn that we cannot lose hope. The play is filled with revelry, grief, loyalty, and love. The story is solace to a melancholy soul because it shows us that grief and joy can exist in the same space.

This play is also about a group of people sharing a space between two households in discord and the chance that harmony may be found in their reconciliation. No revelry is complete without music, and that will play a key part in this production. The composer and I, inspired by early American music, have worked to create tunes that fit the time and space, celebrating the balance of mourning and mayhem in the play.

Twelfth Night speaks to us today because we can relate to the emptiness, the need to grieve, the fear of being alone and wanting to be loved, and the desire to revel without restriction. We must remember that even though we may be shipwrecked and “the rain it raineth every day,” there are such things as love and song and laughter to sustain us beyond the dark of winter. Revel with us as we “smile at grief” and watch sorrow turn to joy!