Twelfth Night, which was performed at UVU in December, is making a second showing this month at Scera Center for the Arts.
Don’t go to this event expecting a run-of-the-mill Shakespeare play — director John Graham has designed the performance around a French European 1920s classic chic concept, mixed in with a few punk and emo elements. Despite the ’20s influence, there is an ambiguous sense of setting that can’t be distinctly traced to any particular place or period.
“Visually it is going to be beautiful!” said Jaqulyn Hales, who will be playing the part of Olivia. “The design concept has been created from John’s mind; it’s like the other Never-never land. The audience will be taken to a place that they’ve never been taken to before.”
Twelfth Night is a romantic comedy with an intricate plot. Orsinio loves Olivia, who is in mourning and refuses to love anybody. Siblings Viola and Sebastian are separated in a shipwreck, after which Viola disguises herself as a man so she can work in Orsinio’s home. Then the convincingly cross-dressing Viola falls for Orsinio, while Olivia becomes infatuated for the man who is really Viola.
The predicament makes all of the characters both miserable and hilarious.
The play includes plenty of exaggerated physical sexual innuendo and class relations comedy. There is also quasi-musical number at the end of the show from the fool, which adds another dimension to the production.
The original production in UVU’s Black Box theater had a blurred perspective on the fourth wall, which is the barrier between the actors and the audience. In the black box, actors warmed up before the show in plain view of the audience, and in moments during the show the fourth wall was obviously broken down.
The SCERA’s stage, however, is a proscenium. So the method behind this removal of the fourth wall will be slightly altered in the new performances.
More Info
Where: SCERA Center for the Arts, 745 S.
State St. in Orem
When: Now through Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $10 for seniors, students, and children; $12 for adults
