Family members, friends, and teachers of the actresses in 7th and 8th grade piled into the theater at St. Jean’s on November 23rd to watch the middle school play,The Twelfth Night or What You Will, a Shakespearean comedy . Twelfth Night is a complex story about a girl, Viola, who finds herself on a strange island and disguises herself as a man so that she can find work. This comedy has many characters that weave in and out of the story and create tension for the main character. The actresses mastered the complicated language of Shakespeare and spoke their lines with grace and perfection. Although it was hard to follow the plot at times, each student added her own style and flare to her role.
“We used this adaptation of the play because some of the other adaptations out there weren’t really appropriate, and this was a better length. One of the challenges I faced was that there was no budget for the set, costumes, or props, and it was all about the students doing and creating anything. Shakespeare is all about the text and that was hard because there was no tech rehearsal which is really helpfully,” said Mr Denver, the director of the play.
The Middle Schoolers also sang and played instruments throughout the performance, displaying their many talents. The one night show was a hit and most of the Upper Schoolers who went were shocked that the performers were only in middle school. “I loved the show so much and I was so shocked that the girls managed to understand such complex language, ” said Cali Ballie ’19. The successful performance gave students an opportunity to get used to performing a difficult text on stage.
Take a look at a short clip of the play on MyHewitt.
You can look forward to the next performance from the Arts Department, Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat, in February!