Shakespeare in the Park: Twelfth Night

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Molly Kempfer

In this abridged version of the classic Shakespeare comedy, Viola is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria. Disguising herself as a young man under the name Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino. Duke Orsino has convinced himself that he is in love with Olivia, whose father and brother have recently died, and who refuses to see charming things, be in the company of men, or entertain love or marriage proposals from anyone, the Duke included, until seven years have passed. Duke Orsino uses ‘Cesario’, who is really Viola in disguise, as an intermediary to profess his passionate love to Olivia, but in the process, Olivia finds herself falling in love with ‘Cesario’. Viola, however, has fallen in love with the Duke Orsino, but cannot tell him while she is still in disguise. Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Viola disguised as Cesario. Throw in some hilarious side characters and brilliant visual comedy and you’ve got yourself a fun, witty, gender-bending good time!

Our production will follow the classic script and add modern elements to connect with today’s performers and audience.

Produced by Studio Dansu at a Local Madison Park TBD

Performances: August 20-21, 2021

Performance Times: TBD

Free admission

Call 608-445-3556 for reservations or more information.

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Auditions

Auditions will be held on the following days:

6/14/2021
6/15/2021

Auditions are open to all community performers ages 10-20 years old from any school affiliation and at all skill levels. Our goal is for this to be a community wide event with many different schools being represented.

Audition Location: Studio Dansu, 2470 Ski Lane, Madison, WI 53713
Performance Fee: $50 per person (once cast in a role and rehearsals begin)

AUDITION SCHEDULE
4-6pm Monday (arrive before 5:30 please)
6-8pm Tuesday (arrive before 7:30 please)

PREPARATION
• Please prepare a 60-second monologue, comedic or tragic. If you do not have a set monologue already, here are some suggestions:
o Hermia from Midsummer Night’s Dream
o Bianca from Taming of the Shrew
o Falstaff from Merry Wives of Windsor
o Antipholus of Syracuse from The Comedy of Errors
• Be prepared for cold readings from the script.
• Please bring a headshot and resume.
• Please provide all known conflicts.

PARTS
Named Characters/traditional gender/brief description:
Viola (F): Twelfth Night’s gender bending heroine
Orsino (M): Duke of Illyria, object of Viola’s affection
Olivia (F): Countess, object of Orsino’s pursuits
Malvolio (M): Steward to Lady Olivia
Sir Toby Belch (): Olivia’s free-loading uncle
Feste (M/F): Clown/Fool in Olivia’s household
Maria (F): Olivia’s Lady in Waiting
Sir Andrew Aguecheek (M): Sir Toby’s drinking companion
Sebastian (M): Viola’s twin, lost at sea
Antonio (M): Sebastian’s companion

**Director’s note: Although the traditional genders are indicated above, we are very open to non-traditional casting. Actors of any gender should feel free to audition for any role they are comfortable with.

Rehearsals run Monday-Thursday in July and August with the possibility of Saturday rehearsals in August.