Theatre Under The Trees to Bring TWELFTH NIGHT to Local Parks

Theatre Under The Trees is turning back time to the early 1920s with this year's show. William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is a play that mixes mirth and merriment in near perfect proportions, so setting it in the lull after World War I and before the Roaring 20s seems a good fit.

Twelfth Night tells the story of shipwrecked twins, focusing on Viola as she searches for a safe haven. Viola, disguised as a boy, takes a job with the Duke Orsino and falls in love with him. When Orsino asks her to carry his words of love to the Lady Olivia and then Olivia falls in love with Viola, Viola finds herself in an awkward situation. Making things worse are the drunk Sir Toby and his friends waging a perpetual prank war with Olivia's priggish steward Malvolio. Feste, the fool, takes his merry and melancholy songs to both courts, while skewering the silliness of those he observes. The whole situation spins to a climax when Viola's twin brother enters the scene and is mistaken for her.

"Twelfth Night may well be my favorite of Shakespeare's plays to direct," says Norton. "The story is straightforward, there aren't a lot of extraneous characters and the mischief and misunderstandings have so much comic potential. It contains the most music of all the comedies and we are very excited to be setting Shakespeare's lyrics to music composed specifically for Theatre Under The Trees."

Theatre Under The Trees is a branch of DreamWrights Youth and Family Theatre. We are proud to have brought lively Shakespearean comedies to local audiences in beautiful parks for the past 17 years. We strive for a family friendly evening of theatre that can be enjoyed whether you are a Shakespeare novice or fanatic.

Auditions will be held Tuesday, May 26 and Wednesday, May 27 at 6:00 pm at DreamWrights, 100 Carlisle Ave, York. For more information call 848-8623. No advance preparation required. We need actors, singers, musicians and crew.

Performances will be held July 24th through August 2nd and begin at 6:30, except where noted.

July 24: Pinchot State Park

July 25: Brown's Orchard, 5:30 p.m.

July 26: Cousler Park, Manchester Township

July 28: Rudy County Park

July 30: Sam Lewis State Park

July 31: William Kain County Park

Aug. 1: Codorus State Park

Aug. 2: 2:30 p.m. matinee at DreamWrights

For more information about DreamWrights, visit www.dreamwrights.org, or www.facebook.com/pages/DreamWrights-Youth-and-Family-Theatre. DreamWrights can also be reached at 717-848-8623 or 100 Carlisle Avenue, York PA 17401.