Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night gets a post-war setting and gender-blind casting in Garden Suburb Theatre's open air production.
The tale of twins separated by a shipwreck features a gender-swapping plotline with heroine Viola disguising herself as a young man – then falling for her boss Duke Orsino.
The amateur theatre group's version is set in 1945 and features a female Feste, Malvolio and Orsino - with hilarious results. Director Teresa Poland says one of Shakespeare's funniest works is played for laughs in the idyllic setting of Little Wood, Hampstead Garden Suburb.
“The period just after the war was a little like what we’re going through now – people rediscovering joy, and starting to feel positive again," she said.
“The casting was genuinely gender-blind – we just put in the best we had, regardless of whether they were male or female."
The production runs from August 27 to September 4.
Visit www.ticketsource.co.uk/gardensuburbtheatre for tickets.
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