Better a witty fool than a foolish wit!

The Undergroundlings' debut production was Shakespeare's greatest festive comedy. In the fairy-tale land of Illyria, nothing that is, is - or rather, everything that is, is. Two twins are shipwrecked, each thinking the other is dead. The girl (Viola) decides that the only way to save herself is to dress as a boy, Cesario, and serve the love-sick Duke Orsino, who sends him/her to woo the fair Countess Olivia. But Olivia is in mourning for her dead brother, and wants nothing to do with the Duke - although this new messenger quite takes her fancy. Oh yes, and Viola falls madly in love with Orsino.

How will this fadge?

Twelfth Night has everything: cross-dressing and cross-gartering, confusion and disguise, pirates and clowns, music and dancing, love and marriage, and a bit with a dog. OK, there's no dog (despite the cast's best attempts to persuade the director).

For this production, we used the 1623 First Folio text, performed with no lighting effects and a minimal set. The result was fast and furious! More information about the Folio in performance is available here.

But that's all one, our play is done
And we'll strive to please you every day!

(Illustration from the title page of Twelfe Night in the First Folio, from Penn's digital copy.)