Patrick Toon, Cedric Lamar, and Jeffrey Bender in a scene from Twelfth Night at Shakespeare Theatre of NJ. Photo by Sarah Haley
You can always count on The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey to deliver an exceptional production for the December Holiday Season. This year is no exception as they present one of Shakespeare’s comedies, Twelfth Night. The play provides a delightful visit to the theater as a strong acting ensemble provides many funny scenes, some touching moments, and original music using Shakespeare’s own words.
The show has several themes, but the ones that stand out are about family. The Director of the production, Jason King Jones, puts it well in his Notes:
One of the many themes at play in Twelfth Night is family: the family we hold dear, the family we have lost, the family we are sometimes embarrassed to have, and the family we have yet to create. . . . Family makes us do strange things.
- Jason King Jones
Stories Told in the Twelfth Night
The main action centers around the love Duke Orsino (Jon Barker) has for Countess Olivia (Billie Wyatt). However, she is not in a good frame of mind due to her brother’s death. More aspects of the story occur when a shipwreck and a noblewoman, Viola (Eliana Rowe) washes ashore. She believes her twin brother, Sebastian, (Jeffrey Marc Alkins) was drown in the shipwreck. Having no one to protect her, and no money to use, Viola disguises herself as a man. She eventually agrees to work for the Duke and becomes his person who speaks to Olivia in an attempt to woo her for the Duke.
In good Shakespearean fashion, Viola’s hidden identity is never noticed and Olivia begins to feel an attraction for the Viola – not as a woman, but as a man. This new love interest throws Olivia’s household into a tailspin. Enter Malvolio (Robert Cuccioli), a strait laced, strict man who tries to find out what is going on. He comes upon Olivia’s fun loving uncle, Sir Toby Belch (Jeffrey M. Bender), and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Patrick Toon) who live it up all the time. These characters bring in many moments of laughter in the show and they stir up mischief that leads to other things coming out.
Toby and Andrew and other members of the household put together a made up story in a letter and leave it so that Malvolio finds it. Upon reading it, he thinks Olivia has fallen in love with him. In a very humorous scene, he acts upon the recommendations in the letter and dresses in yellow cross-gartered stockings and smiles continuously at Olivia.
Robert Cuccioli in Twelfth Night – Photo by Sarah Haley
The Pieces Come Together
There are more things that happen with the love interests and with the comic portions. However, one of the most interesting scenes occurs when Sebastian enters and everyone is amazed to see the twins side-by-side at last. Dressed in identical clothing, the production showcases this revelation very well. In fact, from an audience view, it does indeed look like the two actors could be brother and sister. Most of the players end up happy in the end and in keeping with the spirit of the play, all is well that ends well.
However, the success of this show is due to the excellent acting that all the players turn in. From the comedy portions, to the more sensitive family issues, each actor plays a role that is important to the best telling of the tale and to the enjoyment audience members will have.
Music
Adding to the festive feel of the season is the inclusion of contemporary tunes. Shakespeare’s words are used as the lyrics but the music is composed by Cedric Lamar. Mr. Lamar plays a role in the show along with playing the songs and singing the lyrics. This is a nice way to bring the feel of a holiday play into the action of the play and yet stay true to the script written by Shakespeare himself.
Tickets for Twelfth Night
For more information or to purchase tickets, patrons can call the Box Office at 973-408-5600 or visit ShakespeareNJ.org .
The Theatre offers various cost-saving opportunities:
* $15 student rush tickets, which are available 30 minutes prior to each performance, with a valid student ID.
* A limited number of Pay What You Can tickets for every performance on a first-come, first-serve basis.
* $30 Under 30 ticket option, which offers $30 tickets for patrons age 30 and under, with valid ID.
* Other discounts are available including a 10% discount for Bank of America customers and employees, members of television’s THIRTEEN, AAA members, and others.
Special Performances
For the same price as a regular ticket, the Symposium Series performances offer a post-show discussion with the cast and artistic staff. For Twelfth Night, the remaining Symposium performance will be held on Saturday, December 17 at 2:00pm.
Twelfth Night runs through January 1st, 2023. Performances take place in the The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre, which is located at 36 Madison Avenue in Madison, New Jersey.
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