‘If music be the food of love, play on’ … this year’s Twelfth Night will be a festive delight!
There will be music and laughter aplenty when the actors take to the stage for Twelfth Night – this year’s featured play at the 4MBS Shakespeare Festival.
It will soon be that time of the year when Shakespeare is in the air … and on stage at Roma Street Parkland Amphitheatre during The 4MBS Brisbane Shakespeare Festival.
This is a cultural gift every year staged by 4MBS with the assistance of Brisbane City Council and it’s a must for Shakespeare lovers or newbies. It’s quite romantic sitting there while the night approaches and the cries of the curlews in the parkland nearby add a touch of subtropical atmosphere.
This year’s offering is Twelfth Night on November 8 and 9.
Twelfth Night is a Shakespearean comedy about Viola, who is separated from her twin brother, Sebastian, after a shipwreck. Believing she is alone, Viola disguises herself as a man named Cesario to work for Duke Orsino, but she falls in love with him, while Orsino is in love with the Countess Olivia. Meanwhile, Olivia falls in love with “Cesario”, and Sebastian eventually arrives, leading to mistaken identity confusion that is resolved when the twins are reunited.
Directed by Xanthe Jones, this production features a stellar cast of Brisbane Shakespearean actors and the usual preamble with displays of swordplay and Elizabethan music.
At 5.10pm before each show there’s the Shakespearean Language Talk. Discover how Shakespeare’s way with words made him one of the most famous playwrights in history. University of Queensland emeritus professor of applied language studies Roland Sussex has been broadcasting language segments on ABC Radio in Queensland every week since 1997 and he knows a thing or two about The Bard’s lingo.
This is an annual cultural event not to be missed, says 4MBS Classic FM general manager Gary Thorpe, who has championed this annual festival.
“We started the Shakespeare Festival 19 years ago to provide opportunities for people to experience the great works of Shakespeare in a relaxed setting,” Thorpe says. “An equally important reason was to provide employment and performance opportunities for the talented local actors, directors and stage crew.
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“This is still the case after 19 years. We have a brilliant cast and crew to entertain us this year with one of Shakespeare’s wittiest plays, Twelfth Night. Our director Xanthe Jones specifically asked to do this play this year. I can see why – with its wonderful characters such as Malvolio, Feste the Clown, Sir Toby Belch, Viola and others, there is so much scope for fun.
“We have commissioned the 4MBS composer-in-residence Cathy Likhuta to write a new overture for the play – it has been recorded by the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stefanie Smith. Twelfth Night is full of music. Indeed, the first line is – ‘If music be the food of love, play on’. That’s exactly what we’ll be doing.”
4MBS Brisbane Shakespeare Festival, Roma Street Parkland Amphitheatre, November 8 and 9. A program of related radio broadcasts, Shakespeare on Radio, will be on 4MBS.