Audience members should prepare to be swept up in the same whirlwind of laughter that sweeps the main characters of Twelfth Night away.
The iconic romantic comedy hits the Festival Stage for this year’s Stratford Festival season. It began previews late last week.
Seana McKenna, in her 31st Stratford Festival season and her 45th year in the profession, makes her directorial debut in Stratford with the romantic comedy, bringing all of her Shakespeare-knowledge to the work.
“My first Shakespeare play was in 1982,” McKenna revealed. “As an actor, I’ve been in Twelfth Night twice … I love the play. It’s an achingly beautiful play, a comedy that’s withstood the test of time with its keen observations of human behaviour, our frailty and our folly.”
McKenna’s production of Twelfth Night takes place in the 1960s, just before the now-fabled Summer of Love, when a storm leaves Viola shipwrecked on the island of Illyria.
Viola, alone in a strange land, disguises herself as Cesario and enters the service of Duke Orsino to deliver love letters to countess Olivia. Orsino’s plan backfires when Olivia falls for Cesario, whose heart now belongs to Orsino, who is still smitten with Olivia.
If that wasn’t complicated enough, things take a turn when Violet’s twin brother appears.
This production takes place in the year 1967, a “pivotal” and “transitional” year, as McKenna called it. It also bears striking similarities both to the past and to our current time as well.
“1967 was the year of the Six Day War,” McKenna said. “And we have a war in the Middle East with the same combatants … We’ve also seen the increase of partisanship, things we never thought we’d see again, we’ve seen again.
“When we think of the 60s, even though there were horrific things going on in the world, we also sense the winds of change and a spirit of optimism. And I think this play leans towards that.”
Whether or not having the Summer of Love on the horizon of the story impacts it, audience members will just have to come and see, McKenna advised.
As she previously mentioned, McKenna has had the pleasure of working as an actor in Twelfth Night before, playing both Violet and Olivia for the Stratford Festival.
She said that those two characters hold a special place in her heart, but as a director there is much more she must be aware of.
“As a director, it's a little more obsessively time consuming than as an actor, because you are playing one … very large spoke in a very large wheel.”
McKenna highlighted the amazing talent joining her on the production – from the sound and lighting designers to the costume and set designers and everyone helming the technical side of theatre.
McKenna asked people to come and see the play with their fingers crossed rather than their arms crossed.
“That’s why we go to the theatre,” McKenna said. “We want to be surprised, delighted, moved … Theatre is never a sure thing. I urge people to take the risk.”
Twelfth Night, called a “sumptuous feast of high poetry and riveting drama” by the Festival, opens on May 27 and runs until Oct. 26.
Director’s Notes is an ongoing series from StratfordToday, featuring interviews with Stratford Festival directors; discussing their project, their scope, and their goals for this year’s production.
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