The Theater Department’s production of Shakespeare’s classic Twelfth Night was a talented combination of mistaken identity, love triangles, and humorous drunkards. The show was directed by Ms. Lydia Coats and showed outside at the amphitheater on Thursday, Oct. 11, Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 13, allowing audience members to enjoy the production as well as the refreshing air.

“This show was definitely different from any shows that I did,” Minsoo Han ‘19 said. “Also, we performed it outside which also meant that the volume we needed to act in had to increase, and I have never shouted that loudly for that long in my life.”

The show entailed the story of Viola, played by Nicole Boisseau ‘20, after surviving a ship crash and washing up on the land of Illyria without her twin brother, Sebastian, depicted by Chase Wellings ‘19. She disguised herself as a male, Cesario, in order to survive the entire ordeal. She soon finds herself in the company of Duke Orsino, who is portrayed by Simon Thomas ‘19, as well as Olivia, played by Isabel Cameron ‘19, and slowly falls in love with Duke Orsino, as Olivia slowly falls in love with Cesario, creating a mind-numbing love triangle that keeps the audience yearning for more.

Additionally, characters such as Malvolio (played by Kevin Murray ‘20), Sir Toby (played by Han), Maria (played by Rachel Rusch ‘20), and Feste (performed by Rebekah Farris ‘19), kept a playful mood throughout the show by playing mischievous pranks on unwary suspects, which added to the entire play substantially.

“My favorite part about working in this show was the sense of ensemble we built as a cast,” Murray said. “It felt like we were all one big family working together to put on this play.”

To produce the play, the crew, including the lighting and sound crew head Tessa Henn ‘19 and props crew head Analisa Sweeten ‘21, students from Mrs. Coats’ costume class, and Ms. Milam’s advanced technical theater class, worked together to create fitting costumes, props, and sets, that allowed the entire show to come together.

“Doing this show I got to know people from every grade level with all kinds of unique talents, and we’ve really forged a family,” Farris said. “The show ended yesterday and the group chat has still been blowing up all morning because we don’t want it to be over. Some of the freshman already started telling me they’re gonna miss me, even though it’s barely mid-October.”

The show also included a short intermission where Farris and Thomas delighted the crowd with some lovely tunes, such as Fools Rush In by Elvis Presley, to pass the time, allowing the audience to be fully engaged with the students during the action packed one and half hours.

“This production was different for me and many other members of the cast because many of us have never done a Shakespeare play before,” Boisseau said. “I think the dedication that people put into learning their lines, even in an unfamiliar form of English, is part of what made working on this play so fulfilling.”

Catch the next Theater productions, The Coloring Book at the Raymond E. Hartfield Performing Arts Center on Monday, Nov. 12, as well as Legally Blonde, the Musical, also shown at the Raymond E. Hartfield Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Jan. 31, Friday, Feb. 1, and Saturday, Feb 2.