The Wallis Presents the West Coast Debut of Filter Theatre's TWELFTH NIGHT

Two worlds collide in Filter Theatre's infectiously funny and irreverent take on Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's lyrical comedy of romance, satire and mistaken identity. Originally commissioned for the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) Complete Works Festival, Filter Theatre's Twelfth Night combines dynamic narrative drive with a dynamic rock 'n' roll score played live onstage. Performances begin Tuesday, March 14 and it will perform through Sunday, March 19.

"I'm delighted to welcome Filter Theatre to The Wallis for this wonderfully engaging and raucous take on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night," said Paul Crewes, The Wallis' Artistic Director. "RSC commissioned a work that is not only a great deal of fun for the entire family, but also one of the most accessible Shakespeare productions in years."

Single tickets are now available for $35 - $85. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit TheWallis.org, call 310.746.4000, or stop by in person at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Ticket Services located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Ticket prices subject to change.

About Filter Theatre's Twelfth Night:
Directed by Filter Theatre's Sean Holmes, with music and sound by Tom Haines and Ross Hughes, Twelfth Night is a ferocious reimaging of a classic tale where nothing onstage is hidden and everything is revealed-cables, costumes, props and more. Six actors, together with two musicians, perform the various roles. Olivia's melancholic, puritanical household clashes head on with Sir Toby's insatiable appetite for drunken debauchery. Orsino's relentless pursuit of Olivia and Malvolio's extraordinary transformation typify the madness of love in Illyria, Shakespeare's mythical land of make-believe and illusion.

With the feel of joining a sophisticated musical jam session, the action of Twelfth Night is constantly shifting, and never the same twice. Filter Theatre approaches this show with its trademark fusion of sound, music and narrative drive, creating live chemistry between actors, audience, text and sound that explodes into a vital and exhilarating theatrical experience.

When Filter premiered this version of Twelfth Night at Stratford-upon-Avon for the Royal Shakespeare Company, London's The Sunday Times raved, "The most hard-hearted purists would melt at Filter's 90-minute reworking of this play, directed with passion, panache and precision. For newcomers to Shakespeare I can't think of a better introduction. The music is ferocious, fiery and funny: at times, it makes the Stones look like a group of genteel clergymen. This is not a send-up: it's a celebration-mad, wild, loving and hilarious."

About Filter Theatre:
Led by actors Oliver Dismdale and Ferdy Roberts, and composer Tim Phillips, Filter has been creating innovative, exciting theatre since 2003. Filter's unique collaborative language explores the interaction between sound, music, text and movement, in a desire to make stories that awaken the imaginative senses of and for the audience. Working out of a real sense of trust, and retaining a robust emotional honesty and playfulness, the company creates new works of original theatre including Faster (2003), Water for the Lyric Hammersmith (2007) and subsequently for the Sydney Theatre Company and the Next Wave Festival at BAM New York (2012). Alongside original work, Filter has produced dynamic and innovate interpretations of classic texts: Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle, Chekov's Three Sisters, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth.

For more information about Filter Theatre's Twelfth Night, please visit TheWallis.org/Filter.

For more information about The Wallis, please visit: TheWallis.org.

Photo credit: Robert Day