South Elgin teens tackle Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night'

When Jess Smith, who teaches English and drama at South Elgin High School, decided this year was the year to tackle Shakespeare, she knew immediately which play to undertake.

"I chose 'Twelfth Night' because it's one of Shakespeare's comedies; also, it was my thesis as an undergrad," she said.

The play opens Thursday, Nov. 10, and runs through Saturday, Nov. 12. Tickets are $8-$10.

Smith hoped that her students would catch some of her love of Shakespeare in general, and "Twelfth Night" specifically.

"I wanted to share what I had learned and share my passion and enthusiasm for Shakespeare because often high schoolers have a limited experience with Shakespeare or they're immediately scared," Smith said. "My goal was to show that it's very accessible; that he's talking about the same ideas and themes we still talk about today and the language is a little bit heightened, but once you get past that initial shock, it's really not as scary as it initially seemed."

If you go by 15-year-old Kiersten Larsen of South Elgin and 16-year-old Skyler Luby of Bartlett, Smith's goals have been met.

"It's a challenge but it's interesting and cool to see how William Shakespeare's mind worked," said Larsen. "The way his words flow together. It's very beautifully written."

"It was challenging," agreed Luby. "But I took the time to learn what the lines meant and took the time to see what all of them mentioned and practiced them in every day language before I switched to Shakespearean language. "

It didn't happen overnight. "Twelfth Night" can be a bit overwhelming at first, according to Smith, who lives in Elgin.

"There's a lot of mistaken identities and characters are called by other characters' names," Smith said.

She started her students off with a table read which took two days due to the complexity of the play.

"We'd stop and talk about what's going on. How would you say this in regular speech? If there was a spot where a student was struggling, I'd be like, what are you trying to say?" Smith explained. "They did entire scenes, sometimes in regular language and they would latch on to their inflection, the way they were saying the line was natural, so take the way you're saying that and just attach it to these words."

For Luby and Larsen, some previous knowledge of Shakespeare and interesting characters were helpful.

"I play Olivia," said Larsen. "She's a very strong and powerful woman. In the show she's mourning the loss of her brother and her father who have just recently passed away. She declares, at the beginning of the show that she is going to be mourning for 12 years. But when she meets the character of Cesario she completely flips that around and her world has changed and she is completely and utterly obsessed with Cesario. Everything she does is to get his attention."

Luby plays a pirate named Antonia.

"While she is on her ship she sees this guy, Sebastian, in the water so she rescues him and they form a really strong bond, they become best friends and she starts to fall in love with him," Luby said. "She's selfless and she values his life more than she values hers. Through the whole show she just follows him and vows to protect him, which ultimately leads things not turning out so well for her."

As well as entertaining her students and their audience, Smith hopes to cast The Bard in a modern light.

"We're trying to dispel all of the myths. Everything he talks about is still relevant and are things we think and talk about today," Smith said.

Luby is sold.

"I don't really understand how people couldn't like Shakespeare because everything he does is so well thought out and prepared, it is so extravagantly beautiful," she said. "There is a good story behind it that people should focus on and although it may be not so easy to understand, it's still, very much worth seeing."

"Come see South Elgin High School's 'Twelfth Night," Smith added. "It's a really funny show. You know that it's a Shakespearean comedy when nobody dies. All the cast members live to see curtain call."

Other cast members include:

Bartlett: Jack Bozikis, Gunil Ko, Grace Ryan, Kailie Ryan, Jacob Taylor

Elgin: Sarah Lenz, Gretchen Metzger, Max Moring, Promise Ogunleye, Alex Rodriquez, Annamarie Schutt

South Elgin: Katherine Boyce, Chloe Docks, Rebekah Karp, Linden Kirk, David Larsen, Cadie Rzeppa

Streamwood: Rebekah Tobin

West Chicago: Nicole Gilman

If you go

What: South Elgin High School's production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night"

When: 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 10-11; and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12

Where: South Elgin High School, 760 E. Main St., South Elgin

Tickets: $10 for adults, $8 students and seniors

Details: (847) 289-3760