On Monday the 11th of September, at “Schloss Burg”, we attended Shakespeare’s comedy “The Twelfth Night” which was performed by the “American Drama Group”. The performance took place in a small pillared room of the historical castle.
At the beginning they illustrated with music, how Sebastian and Viola survive a storm. Viola strands on the shores of Illyria from which she, separated from her twin brother, walks off wearing the clothes of her brother. She wants to work as a page for the Duke of Illyria Orsino, this is why she starts to call herself Cesario. Because of the orders of her master she touts for Lady Olivia, who is in love with the Countess. When Cesario refuses to leave, the Countess falls for him thanks to his attitude towards her. Meanwhile Olivia’s uncle Sir Toby, Mariah and Sir Andrew plot a scheme against the self-regarding Malvolio, who because of this is thrown into a dungeon. Later on Sebastian arrives at Illyria and is mistaken for Cesario by Olivia and others. This is why he marries Olivia, since she seems to be madly in love with him and he doesn’t have a reason to refuse him not knowing that she actually loves his sister Viola. In the end the confusion leads to a meeting of all participants, which eventually reveals the truth about Viola and Sebastian. This makes Orsino admit his feelings for Viola and he then marries her.
Remarkable things of the staging were the authentic language and that one of the male characters portrayed Mariah. They didn’t use many props, but they made the most of those they had. Their portrayal of the characters was really credible and intriguing. We all agree that the whole play was amazingly funny, well performed, understandable and inspiringly comedic. That is why we can whole heartedly recommend it.
(Text:Jasmina Planz )
