Northwestern College theatre to present Twelfth Night

Northwestern College’s theatre department will present “Twelfth Night” Nov. 13, 15, and 20–22 in the DeWitt Theatre Arts Center’s England Proscenium Theatre. The show will begin at 7:30 each of those evenings; there will also be a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Nov. 15.

Written by William Shakespeare, “Twelfth Night” centers on Viola and Sebastian, twins separated in a shipwreck. Finding herself alone in Illyria, Viola disguises herself as a man and begins working for Count Orsino, bringing chaos and confusion as a love triangle forms.

Molly Wiebe Faber, the play’s director and assistant professor of theatre at Northwestern, has always loved Shakespeare’s works. “What at first seems confusing can be simply dissected once you understand his style,” she explains. “Shakespeare’s scripts are filled with tools and cues that make the work of the actor effortless once you know how to find them.”

The term “twelfth night” refers to the twelfth night of the Christmas season, January 6. In Shakespeare’s time, this holiday was marked by feasting, laughter and role reversals—a spirit of playful disorder reflected in the disguises and mistaken identities of the play.

Inspired by the slapstick comedy greats of the 1920s through 50s, Northwestern’s production of “Twelfth Night” takes place in the 1940s at a luxury hotel. “I hope the audience will see the essence of comedians such as Buster Keaton, the Three Stooges and Lucille Ball,” expresses Wiebe Faber. “In our broken and divided world, what better thing can we do but gather in a room, all of us with our vastly different views of the world, and laugh together?”

Tickets for “Twelfth Night” are $10 for adults and $5 for students and go on sale Oct. 31. They can be reserved at nwciowa.edu/tickets, by calling the box office at 712-707-7098, or by emailing boxoffice@nwciowa.edu.

Regarded as one of the best Christian college theatre programs in the country, Northwestern’s theatre department features a collaborative, excellence-oriented environment committed to helping students develop their creative gifts for service in God’s kingdom. Study with Northwestern’s award-winning faculty in the outstanding facilities of DeWitt Theatre Arts Center.