Children’s Shakespeare Theatre’s Season of Our Hospitality comes to a festive conclusion as CST’s company of Knaves (young performers ages 10 – 16) perform Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on May 12,13, 19 and 20 at the Palisades Presbyterian Church.
Twelfth Night revels during Shakespeare’s time included pageants, plays, and the reversal of roles (servants playing masters and vice versa); something to blow off steam in the darkest days of the year. CST brings us the light of this play in Spring, a time of light. This production brings the color and breeziness of the Caribbean to a world too often clothed in black and gray.
In this Shakespeare play, which some scholars think is one of the best comedies ever written, shipwrecked twins (Viola and Sebastian) are lost from each other in an unknown land, each thinking the other is drowned. Though Viola, who dresses as a boy to disguise herself in this strange land, gets tangled up with a melancholy Duke in love with a grieving Countess, much of the comedy springs from guests at the house of the Countess who take their merriment too far. But that’s just the beginning. Sebastian gets mistaken for his sister in disguise, servants pretend to be their masters, themes of grief, gender and love are expressed, and silliness runs rampant.
Twelfth Night features Ellie Newton as Viola and Josie Rothman as Sebastian, her twin brother; also Beatrice Gunther as Duke Orsino, Addie Macri as Maria and Valencia Massaro as Countess Olivia. Beatrice, Addie and Ellie will graduate to become Rogues (CST’s teen company) next season. Valencia and Josie, already Rogues, join us in special appearances.
The production is directed by Grey Johnson with costumes by Zacha Tuttle, music by Maureen Buscareno and fight choreography by Giselle Chatelain.
Tickets can be purchased by going to CST’s website childrensshakespeare.org
Performances are May 12,13, 19 and 20 at 7pm, at the Palisades Presbyterian Church, 117 Washington Spring Rd. Palisades.
Children’s Shakespeare Theatre is dedicated to providing a nurturing and enriching environment through the performance of Shakespeare’s plays, allowing children to explore, in a safe and supportive educational setting, what it means to be human. CST aims to inspire young actors to discover how Shakespeare’s truths continue to resonate today.
CST is a proud recipient of a generous grant from the New York state Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. Supporting sponsors include the Jerome Robbins Foundation Orange & Rockland, Hickory Dickory Dock, Wythe Windows, Grape D’Vine, and many local individuals.
