Twelfth Night
Department of Theatre and Dance
By William Shakespeare | Directed by Mark Hardy
Lovers and fools – all of them misguided, mismatched, and misunderstood – tangle in Shakespeare’s song-filled comedy set along the adventurous shores of Illyria. In the spirit of the dashing Count Orsino’s opening plea “If music be the food of love, play on …”, this bittersweet farce seduces us down the thorny path of romance.
Engage
Sneak Peek!
November 10, 6:00 pm – FREE food and mingling; 6:15 pm – Discussion begins
Alexander Kasser Theater, Studio 104
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night- a tangled comedy of love, desperation, hidden identity, and concealed gender- has new meaning to a twenty-first-century audience; or, does it? Director Mark Hardy (Theatre and Dance) and student designers Amanda Lee (Costume) and Jasmin Smith (Hair/Makeup) discuss their collaboration, design inspirations, and the creative challenges of connecting this Renaissance play with a contemporary audience.
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Program
Artists
William Shakespeare (baptized on April 26, 1564 to April 23, 1616) was an English playwright, actor and poet also known as the “Bard of Avon” and often called England’s national poet. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward. Written records give little indication of the way in which Shakespeare’s professional life molded his artistry. All that can be deduced is that, in his 20 years as a playwright, Shakespeare wrote plays that capture the complete range of human emotion and conflict.
While it’s difficult to determine the exact chronology of William Shakespeare’s plays, over the course of two decades, from about 1590 to 1613, he wrote a total of 37 plays revolving around several main themes: histories, tragedies, comedies and tragicomedies.
This information is from the biography on https://www.biography.com.
Mark Hardy (B.F.A. in Acting, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and M.F.A in Theatre Pedagogy, Virginia Commonwealth University) comes to Montclair State from Northern Kentucky University, where he taught Acting and Musical Theatre Performance. His direction of plays and musicals has garnered awards from the League of Cincinnati Theatres and the Cincinnati Acclaim Awards, including a recent production of the Alice Childress play Trouble In Mind. Other notable directing credits include successful productions of Carousel, Titanic, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Women. Ongoing international teaching has taken him to China, Croatia, Romania, London, and Greece. As an actor and singer, he worked professionally in NYC for 18 years in such productions as Les Miserables, Titanic, A New Brain, and The Rothschilds, and in national tours of Sunset Boulevard, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Les Miserables. His regional credits include Dan in the regional premiere of Next To Normal at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, and leading roles at GeVa, Denver Center Theatre, and Houston Grand Opera, among others.
