COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Actors’ Theatre of Columbus is bringing Shakespeare back to the park this weekend with a modern retelling of the Bard's classic comedy, “Twelfth Night.”
First performed in 1602, the play is about love. A complex plot with many different relationships, the story centers on a love triangle between Olivia, her suitor, the Duke Orsino, and his messenger Cesario whom everyone believes to be a man, but is actually Olivia, a young woman who has been shipwrecked and has disguised herself in order to survive in this new land.
"As with a lot of Shakespeare's plays, the ending has a lot of discomfort to it because you can see that there is this genuine connection between Viola and Olivia...that Orsino has these feelings that he had been feeling for Cesario," explained Rowan Winterwood, co-artistic director for Actors' Theatre as well as one of the co-directors of "Twelfth Night." "There's a lot of stuff that's, kind of, unresolved."
The play's explorations of gender and sexuality come from not only the original texts, but from the Actors' Theatre's casting choices. The directors intentionally cast the characters with the best actors for the roles, regardless of race or gender.
"It was important to us to show how blurred the lines really are for a lot of people and this is very normal," said Nina Martin, production manager for the Actors' Theatre of Columbus as well as the other co-director of this play. "We've kind of placed this in a modern 'time out of time' gender utopia land. Like, Viola is shipwrecked into this place where people are just expressing themselves as they wish to express themselves."
Winterwood pointed out that, in Shakespeare's time, the gender lines would have been blurred even more since only male actors would have been allowed to portray these characters on stage.
Actors' Theatre of Columbus' take on "Twelfth Night" will also feature music not in the original production, including covers of well-known songs and original pieces composed for the production. Both Martin and Winterwood stressed the importance of making plays that are accessible to modern audiences by updating the 400+ year-old content and language.
“Twelfth Night” runs through Aug. 11 at Schiller Park in German Village. All performances by Actors’ Theatre of Columbus are free and open to the public, with donations accepted at intermission. For more information, visit: https://theactorstheatre.org/2024-season/twelfth-night/.