Fine Arts Students Prep for Fall Performance

The Fine Arts Program has announced that its feature performance for the fall semester will be Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Twelfth Night is a comedy about twins Viola and Sebastian, who are shipwrecked in Illyria, a region in southeastern Europe.

The characters fall in love, but not in the manner you might suspect and in a way that will likely keep attendees engaged throughout the show.

“I chose Twelfth Night because it’s a comedy,” said Assistant Professor of Theatre Lance Mekeel, who will direct the performance. “I also feel that it’s important to do the classics – like Shakespeare plays – while asking questions of them that make them relevant to our current cultural context.”

Mekeel said the show will include a creative twist.

“I’m imagining what it would have been like if Shakespeare had been asked by his company’s patron, Lord Chamberlain, to write this play in the context of the Essex rebellion in 1602 England,” he said.

Twelfth Night performances will run from Nov. 10-13 in JFK Auditorium.

Mekeel serves as the advisor of Alpha Psi Omega, the theatre club at Saint Francis. Olivia Theisen is the student president of Alpha Psi Omega.

“This is a great opportunity to portray Shakespeare for a modern audience,” said Theisen.

In addition to Twelfth Night, Alpha Psi Omega is also planning a performance of A Calculated Mystery, a murder-mystery written and directed by SFU students Scott Riner and Jack Soyster.

Improv and cabaret nights are also in the works for the fall semester.