A new female-led theatre company is to perform an adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night in Stratford.
The Chrysalis Collective focuses on the art and craft of storytelling, “reformulating age-old tales of the past for the audience of today”.
The production is part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Open Stages scheme in which the RSC is working with a number of selected groups, supporting them with mentoring and workshops.
The Chrysalis Collective will set Twelfth Night in the 1950s and will give the central love story a twist. It “hopes to give fresh insight into the consequences of falling in love with the wrong person”.
Illyria will be an English seaside town in 1957 at a time when rock ‘n’ roll is sweeping the world.
Co-founders of The Chrysalis Collective are Christa Harris, a recent graduate of the University of Birmingham who directs; and Lucy Lee who plays Olivia.
The rest of the cast comprises Phoebe Brown (Viola), William Pasterfield (Duke Orsino), Keith Maddern (Malvolio), Charlie Reilly (Maria), Lachlan Bond (Sebastian), Christopher Neels (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Bernard Hall (Sir Toby Belch), Hal Geller (Antonio) and Chazz Redhead (Feste).
Twelfth Night plays at The Bear Pit Theatre, The United Reformed Church, Rother Street, Stratford from Tuesday until Saturday, 13 to 17 May.