Review of UMD’s Twelfth Night: Shakespeare Takes on the Swinging Sixties

The Rolling Stones, Sinatra and Shakespeare aren’t three acts I’d normally associate with eachother, but UMD’s production of Twelfth Night demonstrates it may not be such a far out idea. 

From the music, costumes, set and performances, everything comes together to form a charmingly goofy play.

Directed by professor Jenna Soleo-Shanks and student Lou Divine, the creative team behind the play made the groovy decision to set Shakespeare’s classic comedy in the psychedelic swinging 60s. 

And it works, man. 

If I had to describe the vibe, I would compare it to the Soul Bossa Nova scene from Austin Powers, but two hours long and with about 900% more instances of the word “perchance.” 

The actors’ dialogue is still very much Shakespearean, but lead Hope Davis manages the impressive feat of delivering her lines naturally and understandably to a non-Shakespeare familiar audience (like myself). In fact, through their cadence and body language, the entire cast makes the comedy surprisingly easy to follow. 

To nobody’s surprise, Jack Senske once again proves his quality as an actor. Jumping from Stupid F##king Bird earlier this year to Twelfth Night, Senske shows that not only can he convincingly inhabit two very different roles, but be entertaining while doing it. 

Being set in the greatest decade for music means the crew got to take advantage of some great tunes for the soundtrack. That's right – music is performed throughout the play with the help of the ensemble cast. 

Music is embedded in the DNA of Twelfth Night. A quick Google search tells me it's the only Shakespeare play to open and close with music. The first line is even “If music be the food of love, play on.” 

With music being such an important part of the original, it's just as vital in this adaptation. The songs of the 60s sell you on its setting. And the songs they used are killer. Among other tracks, there's some Frank and Nancy Sinatra, Beatles and a cheeky little Rolling Stones reference for good measure. 

But if the set and the songs don’t convince you of the setting, the outfits will. Costume designers Moriah Babinski and Archie Reed knew what they were doing. Deklan Boren’s character Feste looks like the lovechild of Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. Throw in the perfectly-fitting hair and makeup by Jeannie Hurley and you get a package that speaks for itself. 

If you are planning on seeing the production (you should be), I’d recommend reading a synopsis of Twelfth Night beforehand. Thanks to the cast’s delivery, you won’t be completely lost if you don’t do your research, but it's always better to be safe than sorry. 

The show is running until February 12 (ha) and tickets are available here. Depending on availability, rush tickets are available at the door