The Joel Barlow High School auditorium transformed into a
California beach town for the school’s version of William Shakespeare’s comedy “Twelfth Night.”
The show takes place in the 1970s, and the performers sing songs from that era before the show and during intermission.
The performance uses Shakespeare’s original Elizabethan English. While the original play has five acts, the Barlow show has two acts to allow for one intermission.
Shakespeare’s acts one and two combine into act one in the Barlow version. Shakespeare’s acts three, four, and five are covered in act two.
“Twelfth Night” is the story of twins Viola and Sebastian, who are shipwrecked. They each believe the other twin drowned. Viola disguises herself as a young man, Cesairo, and gets a job as a servant
for Duke Orsino, with whom she falls in love.
Orsino is in love with Countess Olivia and sends Cesairo (Viola) to woo Olivia for him, but she falls in love with Cesairo. The story follows the
love triangle until Sebastian arrives. A happy ending ensues.
Like other Shakespeare comedies, a few characters carry most of the comedy. In Twelfth Night, the characters are Sir Toby Belch,
Olivia’s uncle; Feste, the court jester; Maria, Olivia’s servant; and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Sir Toby’s friend.
The main characters in the play are:
- Viola/Cesario, played by Kristina Stranik
- Lady Olivia, played by Sydney Toro
- Duke Orsino, played by Skylar Giblin
- Sebastian, played by Sage Oliver
- Feste the Jester, played by Hannah Gourad
- Sir Toby Belch, played by Andrew Kopec
- Maria, played by Alexia Sanchez
- Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Finn Bermingham
Marcelle Morrisey, a fourth-grade teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in Fairfield, directs the play. According to Morrisey, “Theater is my passion. It’s my break from reality. I get
to have fun and not think.”
Andy Pohlen, the technical director, is a technology education teacher at Barlow. He teaches various design and illustration classes and is also a photographer, videographer, producer, director, and designer.
The performances continue Saturday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. in the Barlow auditorium. Tickets cost $15 plus a $1.46 fee for adults and $10 plus a $1.28 fee for students and seniors.
Tickets can be purchased at https://jbhs.booktix.com/.
