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April 8, 2004

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to ‘play on’ campus

The Bard’s best and last comedy, Twelfth Night or What You Will is set to take the Playwrights’ Theatre stage at California State University, Sacramento in an audience-appealing in-the-round format starting at 8 p.m., Thursday, April 22. Performances continue April 23 to 25 and 29 to 30 and again May 1 and 2. Curtain times are 8 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.

Twelfth Night cast members Kate Castor, left, Danielle Thrower and Marina Majkovica.

“If music be the food of love, play on” begins William Shakespeare’s celebration of romantic love, a fitting choice for springtime. The tale is set on the mythical isle of Illyria. Duke Orsino is on a quest for the heart of Lady Olivia, in part with the assistance of his boy servant Cesario who is actually the disguised Viola, a woman. Things are quickly complicated as Olivia falls in love with Cesario as he/she pines for Orsinio. Characters Malvolio and Sir Andrew Aguecheek think they may have a chance with Olivia as well, and with the introduction of Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother, and Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s uncle, the plot spins towards it humorous conclusion.

CSUS professor Juanita Rice directs the comically complicated production, and adds a few twists of her own. In addition to the in-the-round format, Rice bends time and gender. Characters washed up on Ilyria’s shore come from eras from Elizabethan to the last century, and are played by a cast made up almost entirely of women. It’s a twist on a custom common in Shakespeare’s time where male actors often played all the roles.

Tickets are $15 general, $8 for students and seniors, and are available from the CSUS Ticket Office at (916) 278-4323 or at Tickets.com.

For more information, call (916) 278-6604. Media assistance is available from CSUS public affairs at (916) 278-6156.

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