Students tackle Twelfth Night

Edinburgh University Shakespeare Company in Twelfth Night

Now entering its ninth year, EUSC boasts a cast and crew of more than 40, all of who share a wealth of comic and dramatic talent, creative set, lighting and costume design, and a passion for the works of the Bard.

In the kingdom of Illyria, courtly love is rife, but far from simple. Orsino loves Olivia, Olivia loves Cesario - who is in fact Viola in disguise - who in turn loves Orsino.

Add Viola’s identical twin brother Sebastian, the sycophantic steward Malvolio and a few mischievous knights into the mix, and chaos ensues.

Twelfth Night is the fullest, richest and most complex expression of the themes of Shakespeare’s earlier comedies, including mistaken identity and the agony, uncertainty, exhilaration and confusion of young love.

One of Shakespeare’s most laugh-out-loud works, Twelfth Night also features the iconic comic creation, Malvolio.

“Our aim is to recreate as closely as possible the experience of an original Elizabethan theatregoer attending a production of Twelfth Night in The Globe,” says producer Katherine Moar.

She continues, “By dressing the actors in Elizabethan period costume, utilising minimal set and a thrust stage and accompanying the production with live original music, we hope to create a fully immersive experience, not just performance, for the audience,”

Twelfth Night follows EUSC’s recent productions of The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, and last year’s King Lear.

Twelfth Night is believed to have been written around 1601/02. The first known performance was in 1602 however it wasn’t published until 1623.

Twelfth Night, Debating Hall, Teviot House, Tuesday-Saturday, 7.30pm, £7-£12, www.eushakespeare.com/twelfthnight