Can't Help Falling in Love
Anyone who has ever taken an English class has read Shakespeare. And anyone who has ever read Shakespeare knows how difficult the language is to read, let alone say aloud. The LHS Drama Club did this flawlessly last Friday and Saturday night during their production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or What You Will abridged by Larry Nehring and skillfully directed by Gretchen Weinrich.
The play opened with Alysson Karow, who played the scheming Feste (Shakespeare always has to have a mischievous character who messes with other characters), performing on the banjo singing to the song “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis. Alysson has a beautiful voice. I thought the song was being sung by a professional singer.
For those that don’t know what the play Twelfth Night is about, here’s a summary: A brother and a sister, Sebastian and Viola, (played by David Miller and Angel Cullen) are in a shipwreck and both think that the other is dead. Meanwhile in the land of Illyria, Lady Olivia (played by Mackenzie Moman) is searching for a suiter. Viola hears about Lady Olivia and wants to go work for her, but since Lady Olivia is only taking male visitors, Viola disguises herself as a man. In order to make the switch from Viola to her new identity Cesario, Angel Cullen had to complete a full costume change in a few minutes. Props to her. During this time we also meet the (quite overly) attentive Malvolio played by Liam Liden, the drunk uncle of Lady Olivia, Sir Toby Belch, (played by Brady Larson), and his sidekick, Sir Andrew, (played by Jared Lundstrom).
Now, before I go further, it’s important to understand the love triangle (yes of course there’s a love triangle, it’s Shakespeare). Viola quickly becomes liked by Lady Olivia, so much so that she begins to fall in love with her, or him, as she believes Viola is actually a man. Viola does not reciprocate those feelings as she is in love with Orsino, the Duke of Illyria, (played by Joshua Row). However, Orsino loves Lady Olivia. So Olivia loves Cesario a.k.a. Viola, Viola loves Orsino, and Orsino loves Olivia. This tangled web puts all awkward middle school relationships to shame.
Like I mentioned in the beginning, there is always a character or two that throws the others in a frenzy. Those characters are Sir Belch and Feste. They write a letter that leads Malvolio, Olivia’s steward, to believe that she is in love with him. So I’m not entirely sure if it’s a love triangle before, I don’t know what that would be called.
While all of this is going on, Sebastian and his friend Antonio (played by Ashton Comstock) arrive to Illyria and then travel to Orsino’s kingdom. Once he’s there, a sword fight ensues for numerous different reasons (and by sword I mean a plastic lightsaber). I’m not entirely sure what happened, or who won, but it looked like a lot of fun. Lady Olivia then sees Sebastian and mistakes him for Cesario and they get married.
Towards the end, things get tangled– well, more tangled. Malvolia comes onstage, dressed in ridiculous yellow stockings, and proclaims his love to Lady Olivia. Awkward for him, yet hilarious for us. After, Viola enters the stage with Orsino and is welcomed by Lady Olivia who believes that she is her husband. Confusion ensues until Sebastian enters the stage, and he and Viola are reunited. Viola is married to Orsino, and Lady Olivia is married to Sebastian while Alysson Karow sings again to close the play.
The production was accompanied by a meal of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a honey wheat roll. This was topped off with a delicious dessert of brownies topped with a cinnamon wafer and whipped cream drizzled with caramel. If all of that doesn’t sound good, I don’t trust you.The entire meal was cooked by the LHS kitchen staff. The play alone was a treat, but the food made it even better.
The students who put on the play were passionate and well practiced. I don’t know many people who can recite Shakespeare smoothly, without a book in front of them, and in front of a staring audience. They had clearly rehearsed their hearts out. Our school is full of incredibly talented people and I am truly grateful that I got to sit in on some of that talent.