TWELFTH NIGHT OR WHAT YOU WILL Comes to the Frederick Shakespeare Festival

Endangered Species theatre Project (ESPtheatre) presents a d/Deaf/hearing integrated production of Twelfth Night or What You Will as its Mainstage Production in the Frederick Shakespeare Festival. 

Twelfth Night is set to captivate audiences with a fanciful, fun, and fast-paced, open-air production at the Hodson Outdoor Theatre – bringing Shakespeare's beloved comedy to life under the stars — an unforgettable evening of laughter, love, and mistaken identities.

“As the sun sets and the moon takes its place, Hood college turns into a magical atmosphere that is perfect for Twelfth Night,” says Director Christine Mosere. “Ever since our fully integrated production of Romeo & Juliet back in 2021, I’ve wanted to bring this form of theatre back to Frederick — home of the Frederick School for the Deaf.” She continues, “We are thrilled to be back at Hood College, which is nestled inside a border of bushes making it easy to transport into the fictional island of Illyria and we could not have done that without support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Delaplaine Foundation, the Ausherman Family Foundation, and the County of Frederick.”

ESPtheatre’s Romeo & Juliet composer, Garth Kravits (singer, songwriter, Broadway actor, songwriter and award-winning filmmaker, based in NYC.) has returned to bring Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night songs into the Jazz age. Chicago based Director of Artistic Sign Language Crom Saunders has joined our team to bring Shakespeare’s words into ASL.

The cast features an ensemble of players performing multiple roles and includes deaf actor Richard Costes as Feste, Evan Crump as Orsino, Surasree Das as Viola, and Deaf actor Michelle Mary Schaefer as Olivia. Courtesy of Actors Equity Association (pending approval) Gillian Shelly will open the show as Malvolia, and Michael Harris as Sir Toby Belch.

The rest of our ensemble (in alphabetical order) includes Niko Crawford (Voice of Sebastian/ensemble), Brynn Krasney (Fabian/Ensemble), Michelle Norris (Maria for four performances/Ensemble), Deaf actor John Thuahnai (Sebastian), Daniel Summerstay (Sir Andrew), Kayla Swain, (Voice of Olivia/Ensemble), and Emma Zonn (Maria for four performances/Antonio/Ensemble). Rounding out our ensemble cast, are acting interns Christopher Deocampo, and Bobbi Lewandowski. 

The Twelfth Night Creative Team includes: Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL) Crom Saunders, with Michelle Mary Schaefer as our On-Site DASL support. Our Intimacy Director, is Julie Herber, and Fight-Clown Choreographer is Stephen Craig, with Movement Choreographer Ray Shaw, Costume Designer Deanna Kinzie, Props Designer Liz Long, Sound Designer Bri Kelly. Once again, music by Garth Kravits. Our Director Intern is Caeden Hill. Sam White is our Production Stage Manager, with Assistant Stage Management from Meaghan Kaloss and Liz Long. Director is Christine Mosere with assistance from Michelle Mary Schaefer before she took on the role of Olivia.

Performance Interpreters include Jessie Lewis and Marlee Bram.

Saturday 7/29 @ 7:30pm

Tuesday 8/1 @7:30pm

Thursday 8/3 @ 7:30pm

Friday 8/4 @ 7:30pm

Saturday 8/5 @ 7:30pm

Tuesday 8/8 @ 3:00pm (Indoor Matinee)

Thursday 8/10 @ 7:30pm

Friday 8/11 @ 7:30pm

Hood College, Hodson Outdoor Theater
401 Rosemont Ave. Frederick, MD 21701

To reserve your “Pay-what-you-can tickets” (various pricing options from $0 on up) go to www.esptheatre.org or call 301-305-1405.

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