SYNOPSIS (Back to Twelfth Night Program)

In the beautiful island nation of Illyria, it’s time for the yearly 12th Night Festival!  Everybody is ready to have a good time.  Everybody, that is except the two most powerful people on the island: Duke Orsino and Countess Olivia.  Orsino is broken-hearted because he cannot have Olivia.  She simply does not love him.  Olivia is in mourning for the loss of her brother and has closed herself off to any outside suitors.  Instead, the puritanical Malvolio has the Countess’ ear and he rules the house with disdain for all but Olivia, who he secretly loves. The rest of her household: her uncle Sir Toby Belch, her handmaiden Maria, and Feste the jester aim to take down Malvolio and expose his pomposity.  Toby also has designs on marrying his niece off to a rich idiot named Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

Meanwhile, off the coast of Illyria there is a terrible shipwreck.  A set of twins, Viola and Sebastian, are washed up on separate shores.  Each rescued and supposing the other dead.  When Viola learns of that Duke Orsino rules the island and that Olivia refuses to see visitors, she decides to put on boy’s clothes and present herself to Duke Orsino as Cesario.  She becomes the go-between of these two melancholy rulers professing Orsino’s love to Olivia.  However, Olivia falls madly in love with the disguised Viola (Cesario), who is falling madly in love with the Duke Orsino.  When Sebastian finally makes his way to the city, he is mistaken for Cesario and chaos ensues.