Geneva's Shakespeare in the Park brings a little rock glam to production of 'Twelfth Night'
It's glam. It's rock-star glitzy. It's Shakespeare as you've never seen it when the worlds of David Bowie and The Bard collide.
It's Stone Soup Shakespeare's fast-paced, song-and-dance, Bowie-infused performance of “Twelfth Night” — Geneva's annual free Shakespeare in the Park event. The show is at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 6, at Island Park, corner of State Street and Route 25. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is suggested.
“The joy of Shakespeare's language is that he writes in poetry and metaphor,” said Director Samie Jo Johnson. “For our 'Twelfth Night,' we zeroed in on the aspects of fame, wealth and renown that appear in the text. Celebrity became a theme linking Shakespeare to Bowie for us, along with love and time.”
In this classic comedy, twins Viola and Sebastian have been shipwrecked near Illyria, each believing the other to be drowned. Viola disguises herself as a young man, Cesario, and works as a servant for Duke Orsino. The duke sends Cesario to woo Lady Olivia on his behalf, but she has rejected his advances.
It's a case of mistaken identity when Olivia falls in love with Cesario and Viola falls in love with Orsino.
Meanwhile, staff and family at Olivia's house play a prank on her spoilsport butler, Malvolio, leading him to believe the lady secretly loves him. Olivia thinks he has gone mad and has him locked up, much to the amusement of her household. Eventually, identities are revealed and true love prevails.
“Twelfth Night” is certainly about all types of love, including crushes, but it is also about achieving dreams, striving for success and playing roles, said Stone Soup Artistic Director Julia Stemper. While it's obvious Viola is playing a role when she is in disguise, “Olivia is also playing a role as she masks her mourning in composure. Malvolio plays his role as warden of her home and Feste the fool plays the role of comedian,” Stemper said.
“We all take on roles in life, wearing masks and disguises in public as is required.”
Adapted to Bowie's world, that story is all about fame, Stemper noted.
“(Bowie) had these personas he wore for art, but also to create his aura of fame. We created a world where everywhere you turn, you might run into someone famous or you might be discovered. The characters yearn for fame as a means of escape, survival and even for love.”
Stone Soup Shakespeare adapts the story with athletic performers, quick-paced wit, pranks, gags and Bowie-esque musical numbers. A cast of six play multiple characters throughout the play, switching roles mid-scene, and unique casting choices place women in traditional men's roles.
Quick shifts into characters are noted by specific costumes. Malvolio, for example, always wears a trench coat, said Stemper, who plays Orsino, Maria, Malvolio and an officer. Feste the jester is played by several actors as a “group character” that has become the Bowie-world band, The Barren Rascals.
However, the individual Feste always wears a yellow and white raincoat, she added. Glittery, metallic and jade-toned costumes, as well as iconic makeup, bring Bowie's world to life.
Actors employ different voices, mannerisms and posturing for each character, and for the shared characters, too, Stemper said, which makes the play fun for all. Fast-paced scenes keep everyone thinking.
“It encourages the audience to engage — almost like they have to solve a mystery, not just of the story's outcome, but also of how it is being told. The audience gets to be part of this wild, crazy world.”
To those unfamiliar with Shakespeare, Elizabethan language may be a barrier, but the language is still English, Stemper said, and many words are still in use today. Actors also make the story accessible to all by speaking in fits and starts and using random pop culture references and inside jokes, she added.
“There's so much action and music that there are many ways to follow the storyline. The language eventually becomes second nature to all.”
It's Stone Soup Shakespeare's mission to bring The Bard's stories to life in communities across the Midwest, to encourage shared laughter and ensure the stories are accessible to all, Stemper noted. Stone Soup looks at these classics with fresh eyes and encourages people with different perspectives to enter new worlds.
The timelessness of Shakespeare's stories makes them adaptable to any time period.
“He took stories that had good bones and he gave them poetry so that the characters have nuance,” Stemper said. “The bones can be brought anywhere because the stories exist in everyone's backyard.”
While audience members may not have had an identical twin they lost at sea, “they have probably had to dress for a job and pretend to be someone they are not at certain points in life, and most of us have experienced crushes, whether they work out or not. 'Twelfth Night' tells that story.”
For information, call (630) 938-4530, or visit www.genevarts.org or www.facebook.com/GenevaShakespeareInThePark. For information on Stone Soup Shakespeare, visit www.stonesoupshakespeare.com.
If you go
What: Shakespeare in the Park's “Twelfth Night,” presented by Geneva Cultural Arts Commission and performed by Stone Soup Shakespeare
When: 6 p.m. Saturday, July 6; seating begins at 5 p.m.
Where: Island Park, Geneva, corner of State Street (Route 38) and Route 25
Parking: Available in the public lot on the southeast corner of routes 38 and 25; at the Metra commuter lot east of First Street; or at the Kane County Government Center, 719 S. Batavia Ave.
Admission: Free; $5 donation suggested
Details: Play is condensed to 90 minutes without intermission. Bring chairs and blankets for seating. Includes preshow performance by Stone Soup Shakespeare; food available for purchase from Graham's Chocolates and Stockholm's. Geneva Public Library District will provide children's craft kits at 5 p.m.
Info: (630) 938-4530 or <a href="http://www.genevarts.org/">www.genevarts.org</a> or www.facebook.com/GenevaShakespeareInThePark. For information on Stone Soup Shakespeare, visit <a href="http://www.stonesoupshakespeare.com/">www.stonesoupshakespeare.com</a>.