Twelfth Night at Pride Arts Center

Pride Arts today announced it will resume its "Pride in Place" series of one-night only live virtual readings, beginning with an adaptation of Shakespeare's gender-bending comedy TWELFTH NIGHT on JANUARY 12, 2021, directed by Peter Vamvakas. A cast of seven will play all roles, providing the opportunity for intriguing double casting. Shakira Searle will play both twins separated by a shipwreck - Viola, who pretends to be a man after landing on the shore in the kingdom of Illyria; and her twin brother Sebastian, who is missing and presumed dead after the storm at sea. The cast also includes Tekeisha D. Yelton-Hunter, Maggie Clennon-Reberg, Thomas M. Shea, Myrrh Gobenciong, Alicia Berneche, and director Vamvakas.

Vamvakas says, "My approach to directing this adaptation of TWELFTH NIGHT is to ignore the pitfalls of gender specific casting and to cast based on talent alone. What makes TWELFTH NIGHT perfect for the Pride in Place series is it questions conventional ideas about gender and sexuality, portraying gender as performative and suggesting erotic possibilities between same-sex pairs. "

Additional titles, directors and casts for JANUARY and FEBRUARY will be announced shortly.

Authors

• Anthony Cochrane
• David Amram
• David Erlanger
• Duncan Sheik
• Ellen Bower
• Galt MacDermot
• Peter Golub
• Robert Richmond
• Rupert Holmes
• Thomas Campion
• William Shakespeare

Tony Awards and Nominations for Twelfth Night