After spending much of January at Belmont University, The Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s tour of “Twelfth Night” will arrive at Lipscomb’s Willard Collins Alumni Auditorium this week.
Shakespeare can frighten off modern audiences due to the confusing diction and seemingly out-of-date expressions.
“Don’t be intimidated by the language,” said “Twelfth Night” cast member and Lipscomb senior Austin Hunt. Hunt is urging fellow students to give the play a try when it opens.
“Show up and watch the show. Pay attention to what we’re saying, but pay attention to what we’re doing, too. We will tell the story to you through our actions and our physicality.”
The production was written by William Shakespeare as a celebration for the 12 days of Christmas, but it is also an entertaining blend of comedy and romance infused with song.
In “Twelfth Night,” a shipwreck occurs that forces a young girl named Viola to believe her twin brother has died. She then dresses up as him and takes a job with Duke Orcino, who loves Olivia. While disguised as a boy, Viola is sent by the Duke to woo Olivia for him. Olivia falls in love with Viola as a boy instead of the Duke. Twelfth Night speaks comedically about the power and problems of love.
Hunt portrays Curio, a manservant to the duke. He has studied with The Nashville Shakespeare Festival since 2013, and he is proud to point out that to best enjoy Shakespeare’s writings, a visit to a live performance is necessary.
“Shakespeare was never meant to be read,” Hunt said. “Shakespeare was meant to be performed and watched.”
The challenge for Hunt is understanding the written work clearly enough to translate it into a performance the audience can grasp.
“It is a lot of table work,” Hunt said. “We work for about a week in the scripts, just sitting down asking what are we talking about what could we be talking about doing research as a cast before we really decide.”
Hunt encourages audiences to put aside their preconceived notions of Shakespeare and be open-minded about his plays.
“A lot of people think Shakespeare is outdated and that it uses old language,” Hunt said. “But truly, if you see a well-done Shakespeare show, you should understand every single word they are saying. I think we do achieve that with our show.”
Still nervous about attempting to understand a Shakespeare? Hunt encourages viewers to focus not only on the words being spoken, but on the motions and expressions of the actors.
“As the actors know so much about what they are saying, we are really able to communicate that to the audience,” Hunt said. “I don’t think people are going to come to the show and feel like they are watching a Shakespeare. I think they’re going to come and just feel like they’re watching a show, perhaps with heightened language.”
“Twelfth Night” is scheduled to run in Collins from Wednesday through Saturday. Matinees will be performed at 10 a.m. Wednesday through Friday, with 7:30 p.m. evening performances Friday and Saturday. Tickets ($8 all the way to $100) are available on The Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s website.