Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT to Play Hilberry Theatre

Theatre and Dance at Wayne continues its 2016-17 season at the Hilberry Theatre with a dose of Shakespeare in Twelfth Night. Join us for a performance about the fluidity of life and filled with longing and laughter.

Guest director J.R. Sullivan will take the helm of this production. Sullivan has worked with the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Pearl Theatre Company in New York City, and with many additional theatres across the United States.

When twins Sebastian and Viola are separated during a shipwreck off the coast of Illyria, Viola disguises herself as a man and enters the service of Orsino, the Duke of Illyria. Viola goes to see Olivia, a noblewoman who has sworn to see no man for seven years while she is in mourning, with messages of love from Orsino. Olivia falls in love with the man she thinks Viola is, though Viola is smitten with Orsino. Challenges mount towards a resolution in one of Shakespeare's most admired comedies.

Viola's disguise is the main source of the play's misunderstandings, and it also affords her protection and freedom while she is in a strange land. Combining her feminine experiences with her masculine liberty, Viola reveals herself to be loyal, clever, and passionate. Twelfth Night celebrates the spaces between masculinity and femininity, sorrow and joy, hate and love. As a play that features one of Shakespeare's cross-dressing heroines, and was originally performed by all-male casts at the time it was written, Twelfth Night naturally explores gender dynamics and questions of what makes a man or a woman.

The cross-dressing plot takes a cue from the tradition of Twelfth Night festivities, which occurred at the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas and were marked by reversals of class and gender roles. The title reflects the play's complications, including a woman dressed as a man, twins getting confused for each other, accidental same-sex attraction, and the need for resolution in spite of the chaos. As with traditional comedy, the eventual restoration of order allows for love to blossom as siblings are reunited and lovers paired off together.

The production will open on Friday, March 3, at 8:00 p.m. and continue performances on select dates throughout March. Performances: Wednesday 2:00 p.m. (March 8); Thursday 7:00 p.m. (March 9 & 23); Friday 8:00 p.m. (March 3, 10 & 24); Saturday 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (March 4, 11 & 25); and Sunday 3:00 p.m. (March 26).

Ticket prices range from $10 to $30 per person and may be purchased online at theatreanddanceatwayne.com, by phone at 313-577-2972, or in person at 4743 Cass Avenue, inside the Hilberry Theatre.

In the cast are Ernest Bentley (Sebastian), Wesley Cady (Valentine), Devri Chism (Feste), Santino Craven (Sea Captain/Second Officer), Alex Dello (Attendant), Christiano DelRushia (Attendant), Veronica Estigoy (Attendant), Joe Gaskill (Attendant), Kyle Mitchell Johnson (Orsino), James Kern (Curio), Antonia LaChe (Maria), Hannah Maneda (Attendant), Michael Manocchio (Malvolio), Maria Ochoa (Attendant), Tiffany Michelle Thompson (Fabian), Michael Phillip Thomas (Sir Toby), Cody Robison (Aguecheek), Mary Sansone (Olivia), Nick Stockwell (Priest/First Officer), Breayre Tender (Viola), and Brandon A. Wright (Antonio).

The production team includes J.R. Sullivan (Director), Brian Haven (Stage Manager), Allison Baker (Assistant Stage Manager), Benjamin Moore (Music Director), Emily Willemse (Scenic Designer), John Woodland (Costume Designer), Dan Morency (Lighting Designer), Mario Raymond (Master Electrician), Natalie Colony (Sound Designer), Wayne David Parker (Fight Choreographer), Brian Dambacher (Technical Director), April Thomson (Properties Master), and JP Hitesman (Marketing Manager).

Wayne State University's Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance serves students as a nexus of performance, production, and research in the fields of dance, theatre, and performance studies. It provides a wide variety of degree programs that allow students the flexibility to study these disciplines broadly or to concentrate more specifically in performance, design, or management. The Hilberry Theatre hosts a professional theatre company that is staffed by graduate students, who receive assistantships each academic year to work for the theatre and study for advanced degrees. The company performs and produces an annual season of six plays, including high school matinees for nearly 6,000 students. Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution offering more than 370 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 29,000 students.

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