The Young Professionals Company at OCT Presents TWELFTH NIGHT in April

The Young Professionals Company at Oregon Children's Theatre (OCT) will present Twelfth Night, opening April 29, 2022. The production is the third and final production of the Young Professionals' 2021-22 Season. This 90-minute adaptation of Shakespeare's classic comedy features six teen actors playing all 12 roles.

This production marks the first time that the Young Professionals Company (YPs), the award-winning teen mentoring program at OCT, is performing a classic Shakespearean text, a challenge the company was excited to tackle. "All our productions are chosen by the teens in the company, and they felt they were ready to engage with Shakespeare's language and nuances," commented Dani Baldwin, Artistic Director for the YP Company.

Baldwin had been in communication with local artist and director Lauren Bloom Hanover about the possibility of performing Shakespeare, and Hanover was ready to lead the teen company through the training. "We knew we had three main considerations when choosing a text to adapt," Hanover explained, "the length of the production, the number of actors we could cast in the show, and which text the teens wanted to perform. When they selected Twelfth Night I was ecstatic, because I have a long relationship with this play." Hanover's passion for Shakespeare began when she was a teen herself-at sixteen, Hanover performed in a production of Twelfth Night. "It felt like the performance was coming full-circle: from performing in the show as a teen, and now sharing that passion with a new generation of teen performers."

Hanover's first challenge was to adapt the Shakespearean text-a script that can easily be a 3-hour-long production-into a 90-minute version, and how to portray all the characters with only six performers. "I began by mapping out the scenes by the character," Hanover explained. "Once I figured out what scenes were possible based on who was in them and how many actors would be needed for each scene, I was able to dig into the text and make cuts based on the play's plot. I wanted to keep the most delicious, most beautiful parts of Shakespeare's language while also maintaining the story." But the challenge didn't end there: Hanover then had to analyze how scenes would transition from one to the next, while allowing the actors time to change characters if needed. "It was a big puzzle to put together, but in the end the adaptation works, and it's a romp!"

The show is performed in the style of a "trunk show," a term used to describe a production with a limited cast, set, props, and other theatrical elements. "In the performance, the actors literally 'pass' a character to one another. There are scenes where one actor plays two characters and plays the whole scene talking to themselves," said Hanover. "As the show goes on, it becomes more rigorous, more demanding, and more ridiculous. The teens are completely aware of the craziness playing out on the stage, which is part of what makes it so radically joyful."

Twelfth Night is recommended for ages 12 and up and will perform Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays April 29 through May 15, 2022. COVID-19 safety guidelines will be followed for this performance, including vaccination and masking requirements. More Information and tickets are available for purchase at octc.org/twelfth-night.

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