Snacks and beverages sit on a small table outside Humanities Gateway on a warm July afternoon. Free copies of Twelfth Night and a stack of Shakespeare notebooks sit on the back table alongside a Twelfth Night cake. Teachers talk in twos and threes about their summer, their students, and New Swan. It’s Educator's Day, 2024, and the theme is sails and veils in Twelfth Night.
With festival dramaturgs Julia Lupton and Neah Lekan as their captain and first mate, the teachers navigated the play’s mix of drunken fun and serious identity work. Using a real veil, teachers explored the significance of Olivia’s revelation of herself to Cesario.
Lori Cardoza-Starnes (Garden Grove High School) shared that when she first started teaching this play thirty years ago, Twelfth Night was the only work in the curriculum that allowed students to discuss gender and sexuality.
Playwright Roxanne Varzi (Anthropology) talked about Yalda, her Iranian adaptation of Twelfth Night. Varzi's adaptation explores the political significance of veiling in the Iranian context. Yalda occurs on the longest night of the year, when twins are shipwrecked on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Adam Koda (Orsino), and Annelise Hermsen (Viola/Cesario) led the group through the dynamics of their relationship. New Swan’s pirate-themed production, directed by Eli Simon, turns up the energy with plenty of swordplay and a very funny bathtub, and a lot of attention to emotional development.
Stimulated by a day of study, the teachers ended their day at the New Swan Shakespeare Theater. Orsino joined them for a quick photo before taking his place back stage.
---Jessica Rosenow, New Swan intern