Starting on Monday, Su Valley High School put on a three night run of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. As with last year’s production of Romeo and Juliet, the classic play will be paired with 20th century music. KTNA’s Phillip Manning went to Su Valley and spoke with some of the people involved:
Kathy Trump is the theatrical director for the Su Valley production of Twelfth Night. Directing Shakespeare is a big task in itself, but this version will also include music and a change of setting. As a result, she says the show required a team of directors.
“We have an artistic director, who is Jen Keenan. We have a music director, who is Heidi Hartley, and we have a technical director, who is Noelle Mischenko. So, we have four directors, which is great.”
Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s comedies. In the original version, it takes place in Illyria, a region of Eastern Europe. Kathy Trump says that, in Su Valley’s production, the events unfold in Morocco in the 1940s.
“It works really well, because, at the beginning of the play, Viola and her brother Sebastian are on a ship, and it sinks. And, in 1942, off the coast of Morocco, over 600 merchant ships were sunk by the German Wolfpack.
After the shipwreck, Viola believes her twin brother Sebastian is dead. She’s rescued, and eventually comes into contact with a nightclub owner named Olivia, who is played by Su Valley student Kestrel Gillam.
“So my character, Olivia, her brother and her father just dies. She’s in mourning, and she refuses to see anyone for seven years. Viola thinks her brother, Sebastian, dies in the shipwreck, so she wants to work with me, because she feels like…we’re going through the same thing…”
From there, as is common in Shakespeare’s comedies, antics ensue involving gender-bending, mistaken identity, and interweaving plots. Viola pretends to be a man, then falls in love with a man. Olivia falls in love with Viola, not realizing she’s a woman, and Sebastian turns out not to be quite as dead as originally thought. Meanwhile, it seems everyone is scheming against Malvolio, who works for Olivia.
One addition to the play for this production is music, specifically Frank Sinatra. Kestrel Gillam says that the songs work well in tandem with the script.
“I think it works pretty smoothly, because we just assume it’s during the ’40s. And the songs fit with what’s happening in the script. I sing two songs from Frank Sinatra, “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “Come Rain or Come Shine.” I’m singing about how I’m in love with Cesario.”
Even though the lyrics of Frank Sinatra’s songs are in 20th century English, the actual script for Twelfth Night is being left mostly intact, as director Kathy Trump explains.
“The language is so beautiful as written by Shakespeare, and we did modernize some of it. Last year, when we did Romeo and Juliet, we were very pure, and I wouldn’t let anything be touched. But then, we watched the Helen Hunt and the Mark Rylance versions of Twelfth Night, and they’ve changed the language. So, we said, ‘Oh! We can do it then, too. If they can do it on Broadway, we can do it.'”
What that means, essentially, is some of the more unwieldy Elizabethan English is toned down, but the overall feel is still distinctly Shakespearean.
While I was there, lines were being rehearsed, and finishing touches were being put on the set that does make a believable backdrop for a Moroccan night club. The directors, as well as the thirty cast and crew members, are all awaiting opening night. Twelfth Night will run at Su Valley Monday through Wednesday.
