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Orsino and Cesare(Viola) as reality emerges. Photo from Duluth Playhouse.

Aguecheek and Viola/Cesare attempt to argue. Photo from DP

In my rather active manner, I went to two movies this past week (Cafe Society and Pete’s Dragon), I visited the Aquarium, I played organ with a brass quintet, I rode on Thomas The Tank Train, and I attended a performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at The Duluth Playhouse. I like to stay in motion when my grandsons are at my house. I hope your week has been as pleasurable as my own.

Amazing teen-agers in motion

Let me tell you about The Playhouse Teen Intensive, a program at The Duluth Playhouse for the past 9 years. Youth between the ages of 13 and 18 apply and are chosen for an intensive one-month experience, 7 hours or more every day. They produce, stage, light, design sound, promote, and act in two productions each year. This year, director Kate Horvath chose to work on Chicago, by Ebb/Fosse/Kander, and Twelfth Night, by Shakespeare. Both of these productions will be on stage every other night, August 18, 19, 20, and 21, in case you want to catch one. I’d recommend it highly.
I attended Twelfth Night this past Saturday and came away amazed at the creativity that the intense teamwork brought to the play. Only about 20 of Shakespeare’s lines were omitted – that makes the play about as Shakespearean as you can get. At the same time, about a dozen songs from the genius of The Beatles provided the musical back-drop of the show.
Startled?  I did not know about this until I read the program, right before the show. For one thing, an amazing number of quotations coming from these characters have words that suggest - or bring to mind - the title of a Beatles song. For example, Madonna, Let It Be, I’ve Just Seen a Face, Blackbird, Please Believe Me might be immediate connections by a Beatles fanatic while reading, or listening to, the text of Twelfth Night. That’s what the Teen Intensive put together!
Tristan Brown, as the Duke Orsino, was completely obnoxious, and musical, until he realized that he was indeed falling in love with the right person, Viola. Viola (Ciera Dastoor) might have been mistaken for Sebastian (Andrew Miller), her twin, barely an hour difference in their birthing. A shipwreck separated them, and only at the end of the play do they appear on stage at the same time, therefore making everyone do a double-take and figure out the nature of reality. That made it possible for Olivia(Linnéa Hinkel) to claim Sebastian and satisfy her own very energetic emotions.
The two pompous knights, Sir Toby Belch (Lizzie Brock) and Sir Andrew Aguecheek(Ben Glisczinski) work very hard to outdo each other in ludicrous behavior, while Malvolio(Jake Polinsky) willingly becomes a gaudy canary(or yellow submarine?) to impress Olivia.
The show is wonderfully held together by Feste(Eric Frederickson) as the Fool - who is the wisest person in the play. His singing, along with that of Polinsky and Brown, brought the delight of all these Beatles favorites right into the context of Illyria and the 1960s, whatever that might imply!
If I have confused you, I thank you. Shakespeare is frequently like that. Twelfth Night, meant to be performed on Epiphany, January 6, is a “love letter to creativity, art, gender identity, fashion, and falling for the right person, even when they are the wrong person.” I offer a wonderful Thank You to The Duluth Playhouse and Kate Horvath for entertaining across the centuries and generations with this stunning performance of one of Shakespeare’s most brilliant creations.