INDIANANPOLIS — Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night or What You Will was written around 1600 and has been adapted numerous times from stage to film, television, and radio since the first known performance on February 2, 1602 at Middle Temple Hall in London on Candlemas (the Christian holiday celebrating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple). The main story involves a love triangle where Viola falls in love with Orsino who loves Olivia who falls for Cesario (who is actually Viola in disguise). Add in Viola’s thought-dead twin brother, a clown (Feste) and a cast of cunning characters and you get a comedy of errors worthy of its long-standing popularity.
AUP’s adaptation sets the cast of characters near the end of Prohibition, in the early 1930s. Orsino is an organized crime boss in love with another mobster’s daughter Olivia. Viola and her twin-brother Sebastian are from a wealthy political family. The space is set up in Orsino’s speakeasy where guests are entertained by lounge-singer Feste the Clown. Director and Designer R. Brian Noffke has kept Shakespeare’s original language intact while creating a fascinating re-telling of this classic comedy.
Twelfth Night will be presented Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 6:30 p.m. March 14-24 at the Wheeler Arts Community Theatre at 1035 Sanders Street, Indianapolis. Tickets are $12 Reserved or $10 for Seniors/Students with ID and $15/$12 at the door. Tickets may be purchased by calling the box office at 317-207-0171 or online at www.ActingUp-Productions.com.