Oregon State University Theatre's Bard in the Quad will perform "Twelfth Night" next month for its 17th season of staging Shakespeare plays in front of the Memorial Union on the Corvallis campus.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 4-7 and 11-14 outdoors on the Memorial Union Quad.
Director Liz Helman said each Bard in the Quad play is chosen based on what feels right for the moment.
"Last year's candy-colored farce, 'Comedy of Errors,' was the right choice after 18 months of various levels of lockdown," she said. "'Twelfth Night' is a beautiful play with some of Shakespeare's most memorable quotes - 'If music be the food of love, play on' - and the contrasts between dark and light and the exploration of gender and social class are intriguing spaces for us to explore. They can resonate with our own contemporary views in meaningful ways."
"Twelfth Night" is a comedy centered on some of Shakespeare's favorite plot devices: long-lost twins, a shipwreck and mistaken identity. The play explores the "foolish lengths we go to for the sake of love," Helman said.
"This is one of Shakespeare's greatest plays because it so deftly balances his use of elegant poetry with down-and-dirty bawdy comedy," she said. "It has equal parts wit and physical comedy."
This year's production will be staged in a vaguely Victorian era akin to Disney depictions of classic fairy tale love stories.
"Expect to see some wild handlebar mustaches and old-time bathing costumes," Helman said.
The cast features OSU students Abrianna Aydee, Madeline Braun, Sophie Brown, Dylan Danielson, Steven Evans-Renteria, Noah Fox, Mei Min, Dmitri Rose and Suzanne Schuyler; along with OSU alumni AJ Glessner, Matt Holland, Samantha Johnson and Quentin Kirk.
Tickets are $17 for general admission, $12 for students and seniors and $5 for OSU students. To purchase tickets, go to bardinthequad.org
