By Eliza Dunn
Shakespeare in the Park runs on Town Park Stage (photo courtesy of Telluride Theatre)
It’s a warm July evening in Town Park. The skate park is full, softball is in full swing, and kids are kicking a soccer ball around on the grass.
But on the Town Park stage, a storm is brewing, and a ship is going under.
It’s Telluride Theatre’s annual production of Shakespeare in the Park. For the past eight weeks, the cast has been hard at work, memorizing lines and bringing Shakespeare’s words to life.
This summer’s play is an adaptation of Twelfth Night. As is the movie She’s the Man, if you’ve seen it.
Director Jim Cairl’s take on the story is a balancing act.
“I think Twelfth Night itself is a play that is a tightrope walk between this wonderful romantic comedy and this kind of silly, vulgar clown show,” he says, “We're saying it’s kind of like When Harry Met Sally meets Dumb and Dumber.”
This version of Twelfth Night takes Illyria, the mythical setting of the play, and reimagines it as the quintessential American tradition: summer camp. Cast members have enjoyed transplanting Shakespeare into this new setting.
Ursula Ostrander plays Olivia.
“I think that the summer camp twist really lends itself to the lightness of the play, the fun,” Ostrander says. “Already it is a play that is full of hijinks and lots of silliness and it just heightens it.”
“The summer camp setting is fun,” Cairl agrees. “I think that, you look at things like Meatball, Wet Hot American Summer, there is this almost built in version of Illyria where you have rival summer camps or you have the romantic comedy subplot. I think that we already have his trope built into our own American movie sensibilities, that it made sense to try and reinvent Shakespeare through that lens.”
Photo courtesy of Telluride Theatre/Clarke Dyer Photography
Sasha Cuccinello, Telluride Theater Artistic Director and, in this play, Lady Tobi Belch, says that performing in the physical setting of Town Park makes the production even more special.
“We get to play on the most beautiful setting in the world—we’re on Town Park stage, looking out on the beauty of Telluride. And because we set it at a summer camp, the audience is facing the beauty of Telluride, so you know, every night we have something different—we have a good sunset, a rainstorm, a lightning storm, whatever it is, you just never know,” she says.
Against the backdrop of Telluride’s rocky canyon walls, Shakespeare’s words take on new meanings.
“Viola has a speech that she says to Olivia when they first meet. And there’s a moment where she says ‘halloo your name to the reverberate hills,’ and it’s really fun to get to say that literally yelling out to the reverberate hills in this Box Canyon,” says Julia Caulfield, playing Viola in the production.
She says that with opening day quickly approaching, there’s excitement in the air. “And then think there always gets to be a point where you’re like, oh we’re ready. We need an audience, we need other people to be in the space, people to witness to level up. And I feel like we’re getting there, and that’s always a really exciting thing.”
“Shakespeare… it comes alive when you're in front of an audience, because you get the audience’s reactions,” Ostrander echoes. “There are things that you just don’t—you hope they’ll play well, but you don’t know until you get in front of an audience, and also the audience gives you so much energy.”
As the cast rehearses, they joke around with each other. Cuccinello says the camaraderie among actors is a big piece of what sets this theater company apart. “We have a great crew of locals, I mean that’s what makes Telluride Theater special, is like, we are a local theater doing it for our community.”
Cairl, who is a visiting director at Telluride Theater, agrees. “Well, I’m from New York, so the first week was spent learning how to breathe. But I came into the company, I’ve never worked with Telluride Theater before, and everybody was so welcoming, and so open, and so willing to play, that it made my job much easier.”
The cast is only a few rehearsals away from seeing all their hard work up on stage, facing the reverberate hills.
“I’m feeling great! Why should I be worried? Should I be worried?” Cairl jokes. “No, I feel really good. You know, knock on all of the wood, but it’s going very well.”
Opening night for Shakespeare in the Park is this Saturday, July 20th, and it will run through the 28th. If you haven’t already bought your ticket, you can do so at telluridetheater.org.