Redevelopment of Norris University Center’s East Lawn to begin this summer
April 5, 2024
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Shakespeare’s comedic take on love and loss in “Twelfth Night” will conclude the Theatre and Interpretation Center (TIC) at Northwestern University’s 2011-12 mainstage season.
Directed by award-winning Northwestern faculty member Mary Poole, “Twelfth Night” performances will take place at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, from May 11 to 20, at the Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive, on the University’s Evanston campus.
A matinee for area high schools will be performed at 10 a.m. Friday, May 18. Talkbacks with the cast and artistic team will follow the May 11, May 13 and May 17 performances. All post-show discussions are free and open to the public.
Described by Poole as “one of Shakespeare’s most perfect comedies,” “Twelfth Night” is an adventure about mistaken identity and misguided love. After being shipwrecked on the shores of Illyria, aristocratic-born Viola assumes her twin brother is dead and takes on the identity of a young male page to gain work in the unfamiliar land. Her compromised identity puts her at the center of a complicated love triangle in which she teaches those around her how to be open and how to be loved.
“I’m drawn to comedy because it allows us to look at really hard questions without panicking and running the other way,” said Poole. “Comedy lets us say, ‘I’m human, I fail, I fall down, I make mistakes and that’s O.K.’”
The TIC production of “Twelfth Night” will be set in the Elizabethan time period. “At bottom, it’s a play about very English characters who are brave and bold and somewhat full of themselves,” Poole said.
The 2-hour and 30-minute production features 15 Northwestern undergraduate students, with lighting, costume and set design by third-year students in the School of Communication’s MFA design program. Sound design is by Joseph Jefferson (“Jeff”) Award-winning Northwestern faculty member Josh Horvath and music direction is by Northwestern alumnus Matt Deitchman.
The production is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
Single tickets are $10 to $25; tickets for groups of eight or more are $5 to $22 each; $5 tickets are available exclusively to Northwestern students with valid IDs on advance ticket purchases only. Tickets may be purchased through the TIC Box Office at (847) 491-7282 or www.tic.northwestern.edu.
