The Theatre Group of Santa Ynez High School presents Twelfth Night

William Shakespeare's romantic comedy Twelfth Night or What You Will is being readied by the Santa Ynez High School Theatre Group for its Spring production. Performances will be on April 21st-23rd and 28th-30th and will feature over 30 student actors and technicians. Directed by Jeff Mckinnon, Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's most popular, concerns a set of twins named Viola and Sebastian, who are separated by a shipwreck off the coast of the island of Illyria. Each believes the other has perished. Grieving for her lost brother, Viola sets out to make her way on the island but must assume the disguise of a young man. She quickly finds work in the court of the Count Orsino, with whom she quickly falls in love. Forced into silence by her disguise, she acts as Orsino's emissary to the Countess Olivia with whom he is wildly infatuated. Olivia, scorning Orsino, is taken in by Viola's disguise and falls in love with her, thinking she is a young man. And if this were not enough, her brother Sebastian arrives in the court and being her twin, and she dressed as a male, is her spitting image. Mistaken identities predictably ensue, along with some hilarious chaos created by a group of zanies in Olivia's court led by Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Olivia's fool Feste and serving woman Maria, all of whom elaborately scheme to torment Olivia's pompous manservant Malvolio. 

"The play is about finding home, finding love, finding wholeness in a fractured world," McKinnon explains. Viola, in losing her brother, feels that her world has been fractured. The play is her journey back to wholeness, and along the way she encounters some of Shakespeare's most memorable characters. "Viola is one of Shakespeare's greatest creations," McKinnon stated. "She can match wits with anyone, is resourceful, and is pragmatic enough to accept her plight with stoicism and good humor."

McKinnon has a long history both personally and professionally with the play dating back to the fall of 1980 when, as a 21-year-old aspiring actor, he played the role of Sir Toby Belch in a dinner-theatre production in Benicia, California. Thus began a long association with the play that included graduate school and professional regional theatre productions in Wisconsin and Illinois.

"I've performed in the play six times. My role in 1980 was my first Twelfth Night and my first Shakespeare," McKinnon said. This will be the second time he has directed it at the high school, the first being in 2007. "I've only got a couple more years of teaching left, so I wanted to make sure I got another chance to do it, and my current group of actors is absolutely outstanding and more than up to the challenge."

It is believed that Shakespeare's company first performed the play in Queen Elizabeth's Court during the actual Twelfth Night festivities in or around 1600, thus the title. Shakespeare evidently subtitled the play ironically as "or What You Will." It remains to this day one of his most popular and, as McKinnon might attest, most produced plays.

Twelfth Night performs Thursdays through Saturdays, April 21st-23rd and 28th-30th at 7:00 in the SYVHS Little Theatre. Tickets are USD 10 for adults, USD 5.00 for students and will be available at the door. For more information call 688-6487 x2361

Price:
General Admission: USD 10.00

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