the boombox and the bard on a twelfth night!

Methinks that I
shall not again see
a sight so lovely
as this knee,
with leg clad in yellow
down to the toes
in such radiant
and bright a hose
and with garters crossed,
no less -
does but accentuate
its shapeliness!



I do believe both William Shakespeare and Joyce Kilmer would pardon my waxing rhapsodic about such a thing as lucky yellow socks, yet again!
Travis Spangenburg, thanks for the inspiration!
Speaking of inspired, having Savannah Shakes berthed at Savannah State's Kennedy Building for this production certainly qualifies in that regard.

Imagine this: a small university's theatrical troupe
has been tasked with putting on "Twelfth Night"
as its final play of the academic year.
The frat boys are involved, of course, and have
a decade of repeat viewings of "Animal House"
fueling the fire in which they burn.
Time is running out and most of the allocated money
has been spent on keg parties.

Now, further imagine that is the
spring semester of 1989 and "Say Anything"
has lit up the silver screen and the airwaves
with its romantic date night flick...
and its immortalized boombox.
Eureka!
Why not have that device featured in the play?
Heck, why not include the music of that decade, too?
They could even sing along with it!

And so they did... and, perhaps to the addled amazement of the frat boys portraying Uncle Toby and Sir Andrew, the audience loved it!
It certainly helped that they had cast the most popular sorority girls in the roles of Olivia, Viola, and Maria. The audience got a real chuckle out of the lovely Viola masquerading as a lad - what a hoot!
Then there were the love triangles, a bit warped around the edges - but aren't they all? And the wackier they could make them, the better!
That's why they cast their newest pledge as Malvolio. The hazing was not yet done, in their minds, so who better to have to don those crazy yellow stockings? Oh, and to cage him in a dog kennel... what sport, that! How rich that it was all in keeping with the Bard's own words! Who knew the guy was so timeless in his writing?

Who knew?
I did!
I grew up reading Shakespeare and loving the rhythm of the language.
With a sparse set, those four hundred year old words shine at their brightest!
Thanks, y'all, for a night of laughter at this tale of love and mistaken identities and the antics of the young at heart!