Preview of "Twelfth Night" by Shakesperience in Litchfield Hills

Washington - Shakesperience in the Litchfield Hills will present five performances of the comedy “Twelfth Night, or What You Will.” The show runs August 4 - 8 at Washington’s River Walk Pavilion.

The production features union, professional, community, and student performers under the direction of Emily Mattina, the artistic director of the Waterbury-based Shakesperience Productions, Inc.

Shakesperience producer Jeffrey Lapham writes that “it's not been easy, but the slew of tiny efforts to pull this show out of the mothballs we had to put it in when March 2020 happened are countless.”

Mattina hails the production team, who 18 months from inception “dragged this labor of passion through and out of the mothballs...not just for this play but for our collective creative industry." She also credits the ensemble members, who "believed in our confidence, our determination, and this dream."

In the romantic comedy written around 1601–1602, a twin boy and girl get shipwrecked in mystical Illyria, each thinking the other lost. Now they must now find their way to life, love, and each other. The director notes that “‘Twelfth Night’ represents a moment of crystallized beauty before Shakespeare set off into the darker and wilder tragedies and into the romances."

I am excited to see Kathleen Green, 21, has overcome some recent health issues and will once again appear in a Shakesperience production, this time in the role of Valentine, an attendant to the Duke of Illyria. The talented singing actor will also have the opportunity to sing in the show.

Lapham told me that “there are so many interesting personal stories with this one, but the indomitable Kathleen Green is coming out of an exceptionally challenging one, especially after the last year plus that we all had.”

The 2019 graduate of the now closed Chase Collegiate School has almost grown up on the stages of Shakesperience, performing supporting roles in “The Comedy of Errors,” “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” and as Ariel of Air/Water in “The Tempest.”

Kathleen, whose hometown is Woodbury, also played Bianca in ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ under the direction of Mattina at Chase Collegiate. Now a student at Smith College, she appeared in their digital production of ‘Julius Caesar’ in March.

In 2017, I enjoyed her performance in the Shakesperience production of “Radium Girls” at the Old Town Hall in Woodbury. The Woodbury Scholarship Fund Dollars for Scholars recently awarded the 2021 Community Theatre at Woodbury Scholarship to Kathleen.

“I’m so excited to finally be on stage again and so thankful to Shakesperience for helping to bring live theater back in a safe way,” Kathleen told me. “Now more than ever, the world needs the arts.”

The now-healthy Kathleen describes Mattina as an extraordinary director, and notes that “her creative vision makes this show extra special. I love how our cast and entire company are so supportive of each other.”

“It’s been fun reuniting with former castmates and getting to know new cast members,” she adds.

Equity actor Richard Lafleur deems the production “professional Shakespeare done right.” He writes that he is “beyond thrilled to get a crack at playing Sebastian alongside an absolutely stellar cast.”

The original music for the Shakespearience production was composed by Equity member/music director Joey Boover. Other members of the cast include Gerrard James in the role of the Duke, Laura Herscovici, Roger Netzer, Abra Segerson, Kelvin Dinkins, Jr., Abigail C. Onwunali, Eileen Atkinson, Ann Merriam Feinberg, Steve Schroko, the young Viola Lapham, and the memorable community theatre actor Humphry Rolleston.

Shakesperience invites audience members to bring a picnic at 7:00 p.m. each night, when they can again socialize with each other, as well as with the characters in the play. The performance is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. River Walk Pavilion is located at 11 School Street in Washington.

Corporate and individual donations support the free-admission production. Additional donations can be made at www.shakesperienceproductions.org/summer.

Check out (l-r) Viola Lapham, Kathleen Green, Bradd Cyr, Yarden Barr, and Lucy D'Avino in the 2019 production of "The Comedy of Errors." Thanks to Little Tree Farm Productions for the photo.