| ‘Twas The Twelfth Night When All Went Awry | |||
| By Catherine Ellerton Moapa Valley Progress Published March 4, 2009 The wonderful ‘mood’ music as only our own Zephyr Consort can produce filled the Ron Dalley Auditorium on Monday evening, February 23. These five musicians, Floice Lund, Heather Lyon, Gaye Nelson, Mary Lou Whitney and Vickie Willard, use the simplistic, pure sound of Recorders and drum, to transport the members of the audience back in time to the Renaissance Period. As the music permeates the atmosphere of the stage, the lights dim and the bleak stage is highlighted. |
 The cast of the Utah Shakespearean Festival production Twelfth Night which was performed on Monday, February 23 at the Ron Dalley Theater. |
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| Soon, the visitors from the Utah Shakespearean Festival out of Cedar City, Utah, straggle through the audience to the stage. The energy begins to build and trunks, lights, costumes and backdrops are soon being placed upon that stage and the costumes are readily donned by the actors. In short time, the barren stage has been converted into the stylistic setting for the current production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
This story revolves around mistaken identity, identity switching, fighting, drinking, and love unrequited – the usual. It was in 1600 when this delightful play was first seen, and it still is greeted with enthusiasm by the current viewers as it was then. Even though this rewritten 90-minute play is a broad interpretation of the original three-hour story, the creative and fruitful imagination of the author, William Shakespeare, shines in telling this story of all ages. The stage presence and control of these actors envelops the audience and makes them part of the action. The comedic timing is marvelous! From the sword fight to the eavesdropping ‘trees’ to the inebriated scenes, the audience was joyously taken on the ride to the ending that, once again proved that ‘all’s well that ends well’. This was a very ambitious day for these actors as they conducted three workshops at the high school earlier in the day, then romped through this fast paced story, and ended with a question and answer period. The thespians in this current production hail from Alaska to Brazil to Puerto Rico to Nebraska to Texas and all points in between. Several auditioned over the Internet to gain these four months of employment which includes 22 performances and the School Education Program. Throughout the rehearsals we were advised that lines were changed and reassigned using the ‘bartering system.’ The answers of these actors mimicked life – “If you get a role you don’t like, be happy that you have a role;” “Find something in the role that you like or can relate to;” “Enjoy the challenge of making the role yours.” It seems, to this writer, that the magic of Shakespeare is that the stories are as true today as they were 400 years ago. Once again The Moapa Valley Arts Council and their many donors and benefactors have very generously given this Valley the opportunity to take part in a theatrical production that is ranked at the top in the World of the Theatre. Their efforts and of all the volunteers that make these evenings a possibility are deeply appreciated. The Missoula Children’s Theatre will be given March 28 and the final production, the BYU Idaho Jazz Band/Choir, has been changed to April 13. |
