By Katrina Dawn
For lovers of Shakespeare, twins, shipwrecks and romantic comedies, Eagle Mountain Community Theatre presents Twelfth Night or What You Will by William Shakespeare at Frontier Middle School in Eagle Mountain, Utah. One of two plays written by the Bard involving identical twins and mistaken identity, Twelfth Night follows Viola (Kristen Zabriskie) as she gets caught up in a very awkward love triangle between her employer and the woman she is attempting to woo for him.
Twelfth Night opens with a prologue explaining how our leading set of twins Viola and Sebastian are separated from each other in the midst of a raging tempest. Eagle Mountain beautifully displays this scene and through a dance number choreographed by Zabriskie. I haven’t ever seen a stage tempest portrayed in such a way (and Shakespeare has quite a few), I enjoyed it immensely and would like to see such a style implemented in other productions.
The written script of Twelfth Night officially begins inside Duke Orsino’s (Michael Hart) palace. A messenger has just returned from attempting to woo the lovely Olivia (Emma Faye). The messenger informs the lovesick Orsino that Oliva is in mourning due to her brother’s death and will be for the next seven years and has rejected his favors and advances.
On a beach not far away, Viola and the wrecked ship’s captain (Taylynn Rushton) wash up on the shores of Illyria. Thinking her brother Sebastian drowned and in fear of what will happen to her, Viola implores the captain to disguise her as a young man, and help her gain employment with the local duke (Orsino).
After gaining employment (disguised as the young man Cesario) under Duke Orsino, Viola is sent to woo Olivia for the duke. To Viola’s dismay, she is only Cesario in the eyes Orsino; Viola herself has fallen in love with the duke. Still the young ward Cesario attends to his orders.
Contrary to all of Cesario’s pleasing words, Olivia is set on her decision. She will have none of the advances brought on in behalf of the duke. However, his young messenger is charming and worth a second glance. Olivia falls for the dashing young Cesario. Olivia’s love for Cesario is played by Faye with a girlish crush feel; her many attendants as well as herself act as one would expect a doting middle schooler might with all of her friends. Zabriskie is forced to avoid any physical advances given by Faye, adding the physical comedy Shakespeare’s works are so well known for. Even after Olivia’s advances are rejected, she bids Cesario to return again.
Within Olivia’s house, everyone is very annoyed with the head of staff Malvolio (Joseph Jones). Jones’ Malvolio is terribly high strung and pompous, looking down his nose at everyone but Olivia. Because of this, Olivia’s drunken uncle, Sir Toby Belch (Matt Barrington), Olivia’s lady-in-waiting, Maria (Darby Williams), another suitor for Olivia’s hand and Toby’s drinking buddy, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Nathan Jenson), and Fabiana (Ariel Anderson) come up with a dastardly plan to forge a letter written by Olivia about her love for Malvolio. In such a letter suggestions are made implying that Malvolio should wear yellow stockings, cross gartered, (both a color and style Olivia hates) as well as smile (an action that Malvolio is quite inept). They place such a letter for poor Malvolio to find. The laughter alone of this band of scheming mates is enough to make the audience join in the fun. The true friendship of the actors shines through in their characters. Jones steals every scene he is in, especially when Malvolio believes his love is requited.
As these schemes and love triangle persist, things only get worse. Toby pits Sir Andrew against Cesario for catching the attention of Olivia and Malvolio is labeled as insane. To muddy the waters even more, Sebastian shows up in Illyria seeking the help of Duke Orsino; Sebastian is repeatedly mistaken for Cesario and Cesario often mistaken for Sebastian.
The casting of this production is well done, Director Nathan Jensen has done a fantastic job. Zabriskie is a delight to watch, very capable of holding her own on stage and keeping the audience engaged. Becca Carroll is just as impressive with her bouncy yet wise portrayal of Feste. Feste always keeps a smile on her face for those who will pay, but her actual feelings may come out if folks happen to turn away. Each of the actors has varying styles giving each character a unique feel about them making this little country of Illyria seem real.
Eagle Mountain Community Theatre is a program still in its youth, but this didn’t make the production any less valuable or enjoyable. If anything, it exceeded my expectations. The best example of this is in the set and stage design. I was expecting a very minimal set similar to the traditional style one might see at The Globe Theatre in London. I was pleasantly surprised when beaches, the palace of the duke, Olivia’s home, and orchards were fully in front of me. Rosie Jenson, stage designer, truly outdid herself.
I believe a good production of Shakespeare will make the story available to audience members who may not be as well versed in such language and style. I brought my sister with me and she has seen the modern movie remake She’s the Man but otherwise didn’t have any real exposure to Twelfth Night. My sister laughed at the jokes and followed the plot without assistance: A win in my book; definitely one of the hardest points when putting on Shakespearean theatre.
It should be noted that as this production does use the full script originally written by Shakespeare, while there isn’t any content to worry about in the show (it would be rated PG), it may be a bit difficult for smaller children to understand, or sit through. My sister and I however, enjoyed our time with the Eagle Mountain Community Theatre and hope to see another of their productions in the near future.
Eagle Mountain Community Theatre presents Twelfth Night or What You Will by William Shakespeare Frontier Middle School, 1427 Mid Valley Rd., Eagle Mountain, UT 84005
February 14-16, 2019 7:00 PM
Tickets: $10 available here
Eagle Mountain Community Theatre Facebook Page
William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night Facebook Event
Ms. Mustoe, thank you for your kind review! It was my privilege to work with so many great people during this production. This was my first experience in directing a show where I wasn’t a co-director or assistant director. I told the Theater Board early on – somewhat tongue in cheek – that I believed I could do it because I would make up in hard work and time what I lack in talent. As we put the show together, a lot of our actors had significant talent but I also was impressed with the cast’s work ethic and dedication. They deserve the credit for making this show… well, not easy, but much easier to direct than it might have been. I hope to see you at our future shows. You’ll always be welcome. -Nate Jenson
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Jennifer Mustoe