Twelfth Night
1623
Shipwrecked and believing her twin brother dead, Viola disguises herself as a man named Cesario and enters the service of Duke Orsino, who is pining for the cold-hearted Countess Olivia. But Orsino's plan to use his new messenger as a go-between backfires spectacularly when Olivia, mourning her own brother's death, falls in love with the disguised Viola. Meanwhile, Olivia's pompous steward Malvolio chases a fake letter purporting to be from his mistress, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, aridiculous suitor, challenges Cesario to a duel. The gender-bent confusion spirals beautifully until the twins reunite and everything untangles in one of Shakespeare's most satisfying conclusions. This is a play about desire masquerading as something else, about the performances we give in love, and about how completely we can misunderstand what we think we want. Four weddings and a feast to end the Christmas season. What could go wrong?
