Seattle Shakespeare Company presents

Twelfth Night

December 3-27, 2009 at the Center House Theatre

SEATTLE - This December, Shakespeare's only holiday-themed play, Twelfth Night sweeps onto the stage featuring traditional music and caroling, jokes and laughter, and some smooching under the mistletoe. Artistic Director Stephanie Shine stages this beguiling comedy of romantic misadventures which opens on Friday, December 4 at the Center House Theatre and will run through December 27.

Support for Seattle Shakespeare Company's production of Twelfth Night is provided by the Washington State Arts Commission, ArtsFund, the National Endowment for the Arts, and KUOW.

During a holiday party, Duke Orsino pines for Lady Olivia, but she's too busy mourning for her dead brother. Olivia's randy uncle, Toby Belch, chases after Maria the maid, the snooty butler Malvolio scrambles to keep everything under control, and a mystical fool Feste tosses off shrewd bon mots to anyone who will listen. Into festivities drops a pair of magnetic, identical twins, Viola and Sebastian, arousing passion wherever they turn, and weaving healing magic for everyone.

The cast of Twelfth Night features John Bogar (Malvolio), Michael Dooly (Antonio/Captain), Chris Ensweiler (Feste), Ray Gonzalez (Sir Toby Belch), Tim Gouran (Sebastian), Brenda Joyner (Olivia), Darragh Kennan (Andrew Aguecheek), Frank Lawler (Fabian), Susannah Millonzi (Viola), Carter Rodriquez (Valentine), Carol Roscoe (Maria), Jose Rufino (Duke Orsino), and Sean Patrick Taylor (Curio)

Set design for Twelfth Night is Andrea Bush, with costume design by Melanie Burgess, lighting design by Andrew D. Smith, with music by Sean Patrick Taylor.

Performances of Twelfth Night are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 2:00 pm (December 12 & 19) and Sundays at 2:00 pm. There will be additional 7:30 pm performances on December, 22, 23 and 27 and a 2:00 pm matinee on December 23. There will be no performance on December 25.

Special "Shakespeariences" will be offered in conjunction with Twelfth Night including: "Jumpstart into Twelfth Night" a facilitated introduction to the play (December 10 at 6PM - $10) and post play discussions on selected performances.

Tickets to performances of Twelfth Night are now on sale and range from $30-$36 for adults and $22-$25 for seniors and students. Pay-What-You-Will previews are on December 1 and 2 at 7:30 PM. Discounted tickets are available for groups of ten or more.

For ticket reservations, call the Seattle Shakespeare Company box office (206) 733-8222 or go online at www.seattleshakespeare.org. Regular box office hours are Tuesday through Friday 1:00-6:00 PM. During performance weeks, in addition to regular hours, the box office opens Saturdays 1:00-6:00 PM and Sundays 12noon to 4:00 PM. Seattle Shakespeare Company performs at the Center House Theatre at Seattle Center.