College of Mount Saint Vincent & Elements Theatre Company Present Passion, Possibilities, and Yellow Stockings in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
3/1/2012
Riverdale, N.Y. – One of Shakespeare’s earliest, most effervescent comedies, Twelfth Night, will be presented to and discussed with students at New York and Philadelphia schools this semester. Set against a Mediterranean backdrop of sun, waves, and summer breezes, Twelfth Night weaves a captivating and uproarious tale of cross-dressing twins, earnest social climbers, impulsive lovers, and above all, people passionately seeking to break free and make a new life for themselves.
“This is a play about resurrection,” says artistic director Danielle Dwyer. “Several characters find ways to come back to life, to reach past their limitations and circumstances, self-imposed or otherwise, and discover a newer and or truer version of themselves. Twelfth Night touches that nerve in us, that desire we all have to reinvent our lives and ourselves.” For this run, Ms. Dwyer takes on Malvolio, the imperious and more-than-slightly-self-deluded steward to Lady Olivia.
“Sophisticated theatre is Elements’ forte, and staging Shakespeare is truly its element. With a regal set and lush costumes, the various actors easily capture the essence of the comedy and revel in the fast-paced farce of mistaken identity and gender-bending tomfoolery.” -The Barnstable Patriot, July 2011
SHOW
Thursday, March 1
4:00 PM, Hayes Auditorium
(STUDENT WORKSHOPS – 8:00 PM)
University of Mount Saint Vincent
6301 Riverdale Avenue, Riverdale, NY 10471
Free Admission
For directions, visit www.mountsaintvincent.edu.
Elements Theatre Company is an ensemble of 16 actors who explore the vitality of the word and the deepest truths present in the text by storytelling with imagination, honesty, and authenticity in both classical and modern works. The transformative work to become the text with a new and fresh perspective – to inhabit another world and live another’s life – is both our pleasure and privilege. Living honestly as a community in the rehearsal room provides a foundation of trust and dedication to this level of work and allows us to be available to the divine moment when inspiration, faithfulness, and love merge – transporting us beyond the familiar into something new. Elements Theatre Company performs year-round in Orleans, MA, and tours regularly, presenting workshops and performing at conferences, schools, and churches.
Danielle Dwyer, CJ, Artistic Director, has directed works including Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windemere’s Fan, Neil Simon’s Rumors and Anton Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard, and co-directed the New England premiere of the opera Pilgrim’s Progress by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
“The preparation was meticulous; one seldom sees an operatic production as powerful in conception and polished in execution as this “Pilgrim’s Progress” (Richard Dyer, Boston Globe)
Recent roles include: Malvolio,Twelfth Night; Eleanor The Lion, Winter ; Mephistopheles, Doctor Faustus; Queen Elizabeth, Richard III; Lettice Douffet, Lettice and Lovage. Dwyer earned her MAA from England’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the University of London. She trained with Joanna Weir at Central School of Speech and Drama, David Male of Cambridge University, and Shakespeare & Company.
About the University of Mount Saint Vincent
The University of Mount Saint Vincent is an academically excellent, authentically inclusive, Catholic and ecumenical liberal arts college. It combines a strong core curriculum with a full array of majors in the liberal arts and selected professional fields of study, including accounting, business administration, education, and nursing. Through its School of Professional and Continuing Studies, the College extends its primary undergraduate mission by offering high quality graduate studies in business, education and nursing and an array of undergraduate and certificate programs serving non-traditional students. Mount Saint Vincent is located on a pastoral campus in New York City, with easy access to all the educational, cultural, and recreational opportunities that the City affords.