Twelfth Night (Encore)
William Shakespeare's
Directed by Randall Sharp & Adapted by Marc Palmieri
September 25 - October 26, 2024Wednesdays - Saturdays at 8PM
Adults: $40; Seniors/Students: $20; Artists/Under 30: $10 | Veterans & Active U.S. Service Members and Their Families, FREE
Due to popular demand and critical acclaim, Axis Theatre Company is thrilled to present an encore engagement of its celebrated new staging of William Shakespeare’s most heart-breaking comedy, Twelfth Night. Directed by Axis Theatre’s founder and Artistic Director Randall Sharp, this streamlined production is adapted by playwright and dramaturg Marc Palmieri and features original music by Paul Carbonara performed live.
Even in a season of the darkest calamities, does the human will to be happy ever surrender? Shall there be cakes, ale, dancing and love, as the darkness ever looms? Director Randall Sharp brings her signature stark and musical touch to one of Shakespeare’s most hilarious, yet heart-breaking tales of unrequited love. Sharp’s radical interpretation focuses on the yearning for human connection.
“Axis Theatre Company’s new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is something to celebrate,” declared Deirdre Donovan in Off Off Online. “Directed by Randall Sharp, and superbly performed by a 12-member ensemble cast, this Twelfth Night is a wild and wonderful romp through Illyria.” Holli Harms in Front Row Center wrote, “Marc Palmieri’s brilliant adaptation… is pure story; accessible, lovely and flowing. Director Randall Sharp’s staging is clean and simple, allowing the heart of the story to be presented… there is a rainbow of color in the music of the play that adds all kinds of texture… the ensemble is prodigious, using the space with grace of movement that glides and flies from scene to scene. All strong solid performances.”
Mark Rifkin in This Week in New York remarked, “Twelfth Night demonstrates precisely what Sharp and Axis do best, whether offering an original play or a fresh take on an old chestnut.”
Even in a season of the darkest calamities, does the human will to be happy ever surrender? Shall there be cakes, ale, dancing and love, as the darkness ever looms? Director Randall Sharp brings her signature stark and musical touch to one of Shakespeare’s most hilarious, yet heart-breaking tales of unrequited love. Sharp’s radical interpretation focuses on the yearning for human connection.
“Axis Theatre Company’s new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is something to celebrate,” declared Deirdre Donovan in Off Off Online. “Directed by Randall Sharp, and superbly performed by a 12-member ensemble cast, this Twelfth Night is a wild and wonderful romp through Illyria.” Holli Harms in Front Row Center wrote, “Marc Palmieri’s brilliant adaptation… is pure story; accessible, lovely and flowing. Director Randall Sharp’s staging is clean and simple, allowing the heart of the story to be presented… there is a rainbow of color in the music of the play that adds all kinds of texture… the ensemble is prodigious, using the space with grace of movement that glides and flies from scene to scene. All strong solid performances.”
Mark Rifkin in This Week in New York remarked, “Twelfth Night demonstrates precisely what Sharp and Axis do best, whether offering an original play or a fresh take on an old chestnut.”
Featuring: Spencer Aste; Brian Barnhart; Eli Bridges; Andrew Dawson; George Demas; Katy Frame; Britt Genelin; Robert Ierardi; Lynn Mancinelli; Brian Parks; Jon McCormick; Jim Sterling
director: Randall Sharp
adaptation/dramaturge: Marc Palmieri
production stage manager: Regina Betancourt
asst. stage manager: Laurie Kilmartin
light designer: David Zeffren
assistant light designer: Amy Harper
composer/sound designer: Paul Carbonara
choreographer: Lynn Mancinelli
costume designer: Karl Ruckdeschel
asst. costume designer: Jess Gersz
hair and makeup designer: Will Vicari
hair & makeup supervisor: Leone Gagliardi
wigs provided by The Wig Associates
properties designer: Lynn Mancinelli
set designer: Randall Sharp
set construction: Adam Couperthwaite, Jon McCormick
sound engineers: Michael Birnbaum, Chris Bittneri
production photography: Regina Betancourt
box office manager – Coco Knostman
website & graphic designer: Ethan Crenson
publicity/PR: Everyman Agency
AXIS COMPANY
Artistic Director - Randall Sharp
Producing Director - Brian Barnhart
Executive Producer - Jeffrey Resnick
Technical Director - Jon McCormick
Paul Carbonara (guitar), Yonatan Gutfeld (piano/cello)
Thank You
TDF Costume Collection, Krystal Balleza (Wigmaker), Bethany Joy Costumes, LR Tailoring
Ship Photo Credit: Chris Roxburgh
Seating is General Admission and the Running Time is approximately 90 minutes.
For information about tickets for Veterans & Active U.S. Service Members and Their Families please email us at info@axiscompany.org
A face mask is optional while inside the theatre. We will offer flexible options for exchanging tickets and account credit if you cannot attend a performance due to illness or recent COVID-19 exposure.
TDF Costume Collection, Krystal Balleza (Wigmaker), Bethany Joy Costumes, LR Tailoring
Ship Photo Credit: Chris Roxburgh
Seating is General Admission and the Running Time is approximately 90 minutes.
For information about tickets for Veterans & Active U.S. Service Members and Their Families please email us at info@axiscompany.org
A face mask is optional while inside the theatre. We will offer flexible options for exchanging tickets and account credit if you cannot attend a performance due to illness or recent COVID-19 exposure.
“…director Randall Sharp’s twilit production… (is) a design and staging triumph… Karl Ruckdeschel’s gray-toned eighteenth-century costumes glimmer with crepuscular glamour…”
“Marc Palmieri’s brilliant adaptation… is pure story; accessible, lovely and flowing. Director Randall Sharp’s staging is clean and simple, allowing the heart of the story to be presented… there is a rainbow of color in the music of the play that adds all kinds of texture… the ensemble is prodigious, using the space with grace of movement that glides and flies from scene to scene. All strong solid performances.”
—Front Row Center
“…satisfying in its exactitude… Sharp, Palmieri, and the superb cast deliver… demonstrates precisely what Sharp and Axis do best, whether offering an original play or a fresh take on an old chestnut.”
—THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK
“The Axis Theatre Company’s new adaptation of Shakespeare’s 'Twelfth Night' is something to celebrate. Directed by Randall Sharp, and superbly performed by a 12-member ensemble cast, this 'Twelfth Night' is a wild and wonderful romp through Illyria.”
—OffOffOnline
“ ...an elegantly streamlined and truncated staging of Shakespeare’s 'Twelfth Night'… Sharp’s staging is clean and stylish, putting the emphasis on the work’s subtly shifting emotional landscape… live musicians are ingeniously incorporated into the fabric of the play, and they provide wonderful underscoring over the course of the performance (Paul Carbonara’s recurring love motif is particularly enchanting)… the acting is reliably solid… which lends itself to Sharp’s human-scaled version of Twelfth Night.”
—Interludes
“…a perfect rendition of the twists and turns of this wonderful comedy… Director Randall Sharp… intricately brings “Twelfth Night” to life… her fluid direction of the cast allows them to drift across the stage lending an air of fantasy to the productions… The ensemble cast is up to the task of making Shakespeare more accessible without losing any of his mastery. No one should be intimidated by this production as it welcomes you into a fantasy world where reality is checked at the door.”
—Front Mezz Junkies
“…brilliantly directed by Randall Sharp from a streamlined adaptation by Marc Palmieri… a delightful, fun-filled 90 minutes of mirth, music, and pranks… all members of the large ensemble… were excellent…one could truly appreciate the richness of the period costumes designed by Karl Ruckdeschel. Simply spectacular. And kudos for the hair and makeup stylings by Will Vicari and wigmaker Krystal Balleza… all (Shakespeare’s) comic devices and wordplay in 90 minutes. Plus, live music. Grand!”
—Theater Pizzazz
“Evocative yet starkly simple… the entire cast is doused in dashing grays, mirroring the walls and floor… (with) nice underscoring (Paul Carbonara) and musical numbers… Britt Genelin’s Viola/Cesario duality was superb and her charismatic scenes with real or desired suitors anchored the production.”
—TheaterReviewsFromMySeat
“Axis Company’s exceptional production of ‘Twelfth Night’ needs to be on your weekend must-see list. From Marc Palmieri’s perfectly pared-down adaptation and Randall Sharp’s savvy direction, to the first-rate ensemble cast that effortlessly fuses the satirical nuances and dark undertones that swirl around the notoriously entangled comedy—this is Shakespeare at its most accessible…and enjoyable.”
—City Guide New York
WATCH Twelfth Night (2024 Encore) Trailer
WATCH Twelfth Night (2024 Encore) (The New Yorker) Trailer
