Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT to Play Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center

William Shakespeare's comedy "Twelfth Night", directed by Dee O'Brien will play August 11, 12, 13 at 7:30 PM and August 14 at 2:00 PM at Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, 324 Pine Street (inside City Hall).

Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion - a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the one she adores only to be pursued by the woman he loves.

Shakespeare, like opera, can be an acquired taste, but with this unique production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Director, Dee O'Brien, has been solely focused on Shakespeare for more than 30 years. Her singular mission for Twelfth Night is to create a production that is visually enticing, mentally stimulating and leaves the audience with a profound feeling of satisfaction.

To accomplish this she offers up Shakespeare in such a way that anyone and everyone can grasp, follow and enjoy the story being told. As an example; in one of our scenes she sneaks a character into the audience (you will have to come to see what happens next). Dee understands that the language can be a bit daunting, so she throws in coconut bras, grass skirts and butterfly nets to bring the language of Shakespeare to life.

If you have never seen a Steampunk / Duck Dynasty / Laugh-In production of Twelfth Night, you are in for a treat ... we have it all ... gender confusion, sword fighting, obnoxious drunk relatives all wrapped up with a nice neat bow - not to mention an extremely talented local cast!

Music lovers will not be disappointed either. Every type of music is covered including songs from ABBA, QUEEN and other well-known songs that truly brings this into the 21st century.

Miranda in William Shakespeare's The Tempest exclaims, "O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here...O brave new world that has such people in't." That, explains Dee O'Brien, is how she felt on moving from the suburbs of Manhattan to Dunedin and finding a wealth of community theaters filled with dedicated and talented performers.

Dee O'Brien grew up in the Manhattan suburb of New Rochelle, NY. A theater arts buff from an early age, she put herself through college with the help of scholarships, the support of her parents, and income from a dance studio she ran in the basement of her family home. After graduating with a Master's Degree in English literature, she began a 39 year career teaching English and writing in the Mamaroneck, New York public schools. By 1974, she established "The Semi-Royal Shakespeare Company," which went on to become the longest running Shakespeare Company for middle and high school students in the country. Dee's Shakespeare Company performed two full-length, double cast Shakespeare plays, annually; the run consisted of ten performances in six days of two different plays. Many of Dee's students have gone on to highly successful careers in stage and film, both in front of and behind the camera. After retiring from teaching in 2007 and her Shakespeare Company in 2013, Dee has volunteered her time and experience to Tarpon Arts in directing, costuming, and designing for Lovers and Madmen, 2014 and Once More unto the Breach, Dear Friends in 2015. Twelfth Night, her first full-length Shakespeare production can be seen at The Performing Arts Center in Tarpon Springs on August 11, 12, 13, 14. She applauds the tireless efforts of the cast and crew who have worked though the complexities of Shakespeare's words to bring Twelfth Night to Pinellas County theater lovers.

Ms. O'Brien's work with her students has been written up in the New York Times and The Journal News. She is the recipient of numerous awards for excellence in teaching and theater.

Tickets: $18 Regular price; $14 Tarpon Arts Members and Students. Box Office: 101 S. Pinellas Ave., Tarpon Springs / 727-942-5605 / www.tarponarts.org.

Tarpon Arts presents stimulating, engaging, and educational performances, workshops, festivals, concerts, and visual arts that celebrate the unique heritage and culture of Tarpon Springs and the State of Florida, while bringing nationally acclaimed performing artists to the community establishing Tarpon Springs as a dynamic cultural destination.

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