NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University Theatre and Dance will present Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” on March 16-19 at 7:30 p.m. and March 19 at 2 p.m. in the A.A. Fredericks Auditorium.
Tickets are $15 and $12 for senior citizens. NSU, Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts students are admitted free with a current I.D. Those attending are asked to wear a mask in keeping with School of Creative and Performing Arts protocol. For ticket information, contact the Theatre Box Office at (318) 357-4483.
The show is directed by former NSU Artistic Director Dr. Jack Wann.
“Twelfth Night” takes place in the imaginary land of Illyria, a place that, as its name suggests, combines illusion with delirium. Imagination, delusion, madness and love are all part of this festive comedy written at the height of Shakespeare’s most life-enhancing period. A set of twins are ship-wrecked and believed lost. But in Shakespeare, the lost is always found. After a zany series of mistaken identity mix-ups and misplaced romantic interludes, the characters are reunited. Aiding and abetting and often standing in the way of the eventual reunion of Viola and her brother Sebastian are a group of memorable characters including the ambitious and Puritanical steward Malvolio; a drunken uncle Sir Toby Belch; his guileless comrade-in-drink Sir Andrew Aguecheek, a resourceful gentlewoman Maria and an all-knowing singing Fool named Feste. The nobility of Illyria, Duke Orsino and the beautiful Lady Olivia, are both victims of the confusion, but all’s well that ends well. The ‘improbable fiction’ of “Twelfth Night” has delighted audiences for many, many years and provides a delightful journey into a Carnivalesque kingdom of excess and high spirits.
The cast is Dylan Fuselier of Chalmette, as Orsino, Duke of Illyria, Mia Claire Huffman of Pineville as Curio, Summer Jones of Shreveport as Valentine and officer 1, Joy Davis of Minden as a sailor, officer 2 and a gentlewoman, Jarius Killings of Alexandria as a sea captain and a priest, Kristi Contreary of Geismar as Viola, Mikiah Odom of Marshall, Texas, as Maria and Jackson Holoubek of Shreveport as Sir Toby Belch.
The cast also includes Heather Lott of Natchitoches as Fabian, Sarah Lord Holoubek of Shreveport as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Victoria Hickman of Mandeville, as Olivia, Robert McCandlish of Calhoun as Feste, Jeremiah Mitchell of Alexandria as Malvolio, Maudiel Aguilar of Cuyamel Omoa, Honduras, as Sebastian and Jordon Thomas of Geismar as Antonio.
Caption:
Orsino and Olivia are somewhat amazed as they see twins Sebastian and Viola for the first time in a scene from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” which will be performed by Northwestern Theatre and Dance March 16-19 at 7:30 p.m. and March 19 at 2 p.m. in the A.A. Fredericks Auditorium. Among the cast members are, from left, Maudiel Aguilar as Sebastian, Kristi Contreary as Viola, Victoria Hickman as Olivia and Dylan Fuselier as Orsino.
