TWELFTH NIGHT Now on Stage at the Stratford Festival

Get ready to be swept away in a whirlwind of passion, laughter and enchantment as one of Shakespeare’s beloved plays, Twelfth Night, takes to the Festival Theatre. Making her Stratford directorial debut, Seana McKenna directs the romantic comedy.

This production takes us back to the late 1960s, just before the Summer of Love. A terrible storm leaves Viola shipwrecked on the island of Illyria. A woman alone in a strange land, Viola disguises herself as “Cesario” and enters the service of Duke Orsino to deliver love letters to Countess Olivia. Orsino’s plan backfires when Olivia falls for Cesario, whose heart now belongs to Orsino, who is still smitten with Olivia. When Viola’s twin brother appears, complications peak! Twelfth Night is a sumptuous feast of high poetry and riveting drama.

“I have a long and loving relationship with Twelfth Night,” says McKenna. “I always hear or see something new in it. That’s why we keep coming back to Shakespeare’s plays: we identify or empathize with different characters as we go through different times in our lives.”

Twelfth Night features Laura Condlln as Malvolio, Jessica B. Hill as Viola, Sarah Dodd as Maria, Deborah Hay as Feste, Vanessa Sears as Olivia, André Sills as Orsino, Scott Wentworth as Sir Toby Belch, and Rylan Wilkie as Sir Andrew Aguecheek with Hilary Adams, David Collins as Sea Captain, Nick Dolan, Thomas Duplessie, Austin Eckert as Sebastian, Jenna-Lee Hyde, Andrew Iles as Valentine, John Kirkpatrick as Priest, Tarique Lewis as Curio, Jonathan Mason, Marissa Orjalo, Glynis Ranney, Antonette Rudder, Michael Spencer-Davis as Fabian, Rob Stone, and Emilio Vieira as Antonio.

The creative team includes Set and Costume Designer Christina Poddubiuk, Lighting Designer Bonnie Beecher, Composer Paul Shilton, Sound Designer Verne Good and Choreographer Stephanie Graham.

Twelfth Night officially opens on May 27 and runs until October 26 at the Festival Theatre. Tickets are available at stratfordfestival.ca or by calling 1.800.567.1600.

The 2024 season also features Something Rotten!, Romeo and Juliet, London Assurance, La Cage aux Folles, Wendy and Peter Pan, Salesman in China, Cymbeline, Hedda Gabler, The Diviners, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? and Get That Hope.

Photo credit: Ted Belton

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