Beach Boys and Romance: HDA Presents "Twelfth Night"

From 60’s music to thrilling fights, HDA’s production of Twelfth Night prepared through the months of October and November to take the stage on December 4th, 5th, and 6th. As opening night approached, the excitement of the cast and crew grew for a “very unique” production, says Fiona Wiman ’28, playing Olivia. 

Expanding on the unique aspects of the show, Wiman shares that contrary to the “late Elizabethan time period” that an audience would expect from a Shakespearean performance, “it is set in the 60s beach boy era.” Reflecting on her impressive career at Hopkins, Director Hope Hartup shares that “Twelfth Night is the fifteenth production of a Shakespeare play that I have directed at Hopkins.” She claims that “of those fifteen, only one production was set in Elizabethan England, so it should be no surprise that I’ve pulled Twelfth Night out of its original setting and moved it to a more modern time and place.” In order to bring this new setting to life, Chaima Arouna ’27, playing Maria, shares that there’s a “special spin on costumes that our amazing director Hope decided to take with this show.” 

However, it’s not just costumes that Hartup has given a 60s twist. She claims that “to help with the updating, we have replaced the Shakespearean ballads in Twelfth Night with tunes from the 1960’s.” These tunes are not just played from a band in the pit or by pre-recorded tracks, but are performed by musicians in an onstage ensemble. Anjali van Bladel ‘27, playing Viola, shares that “Even though this isn’t technically a musical, I think it’s really cool that we can connect these two art forms!” Further supporting Hartup’s unique directorial choices, van Bladel claims that this onstage band has “helped to enhance the modern concept of the show.” 

When it came to pulling off Hartup’s creative vision for Twelfth Night, HDA’s main difficulty was that “[the cast and crew] have less time than usual. It definitely takes dedication from the actors and tech crew who are at rehearsals every day” says Wiman. Greta Lee ’28, a musician in the band and in the onstage ensemble adds, “There is so much work that goes into any and every HDA show.” Whether it’s “costume crew, run crew, backstage” Lee claims that “so many important people go into a show like this one.” Despite the challenging timeframe, Arouna asserts that “All HDA members put in so much work to put on shows like Twelfth Night. The amount of time and commitment outside of rehearsal to memorize blocking and lines [is immense].” Hartup agrees that, “The student actors I’m working closely with are simply amazing. They are working hard to understand how to speak Shakespeare’s verse so that it feels natural and can be easily understood by their audiences. [...] They are absolutely nailing it!” The actors in HDA are excelling both on and off the stage. In addition to being hard workers during rehearsal, Arouna says, “The HDA community is really just a big family, we’re all so comfortable around each other.” Lee thinks, “[We] love each other and work hard to become better actors, crew members, and parts of the community.” 

The cast and crew of Twelfth Night are all eager for audiences to see their performance. Arouna comments on Hartup’s unique take on the Shakespearean play: “There's sunglasses and cool poses, funky costumes, a boxing scene, pink fluorescent drinking flasks and so many more fun features to this play, so come watch!”