Ashwood Waldorf School’s 7th and 8th grades will present William Shakespeare’s comic tour de force Twelfth Night (or What You Will) at the Rockport Opera House on Wednesday, February 10, at 6:30 p.m.; Thursday, February 11, at 11:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.; and Friday, February 12, at 1:00 p.m. The public is invited. A $10 donation is suggested; under 16, free.
Shipwrecked twins, mistaken identities, love lost and found, and some of the most famous lines in Shakespeare’s oeuvre comprise this rich comedy that many critics have called the Bard’s greatest.
Viola has become separated from her identical twin brother, Sebastian, during a violent shipwreck and finds herself washed up on the shores of a foreign land. Believing her brother dead, she disguises herself as a man, names herself Cesario, and takes up service in the court of Count Orsino. It rapidly becomes apparent that Orsino is hopelessly in love with the heiress Olivia. Dispatched to woo Olivia for the count, Cesario only succeeds in winning fair Olivia’s love for himself. Meanwhile, Viola has fallen in love with the count!
All this takes place while Olivia’s carousing uncle, Sir Toby Belch, and his bumbling sidekick, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, torment Olivia’s steward Malvolio by drinking, joking, and singing late into the night. Then, to get revenge on the priggish Malvolio, Olivia’s maid, Maria, plots with them to convince Malvolio that Olivia is in love with him.
Two casts will be performing: Anikka Reinwand and Isabella LaBranche as the plucky Viola/Cesario, Sylvan Eichenlaub and Isaiah Doble as the lovesick Count Orsino, Rachel Sizeler-Fletcher and Morgan MacDougal as proud Olivia, Yonah Wienges as the twin brother, Sebastian, Caleb Edwards and Frances Ostensen as the conniving Malvolio, Kate Kemper as the Fool, Daniel Snider and Jasper Berryman Moore as Sir Toby Belch, Sofia Mott and Ocean Rancourt as the witty Maria, Cullan Hamilton and Michael Frampton as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Jacob Mills-Lightner and Jasper Louden as Antonio, Eli Moore and Andrew Levitt as Fabian, and Acer Van Dis as the Sea Captain.