Steppin' Out

Cover Story

Photograph by David Allen

Olivia (Vilma Silva) gets the eye from her smitten steward, Malvolio (Ron Campbell).

Groovy, Milady

TheatreWorks gives the Bard some flower power

By Heather Zimmerman

Even as the winter solstice approaches, it's the Summer of Love at TheatreWorks, which for the holidays is staging a groovy re-imagining of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Performances take place Nov. 28-Dec. 23 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

The production moves the action from the faraway land of Illyria to the far-out land of late-'60s San Francisco. Twelfth Night is a natural to set in the era of free love: romantic entanglements abound, and for some, affections are flexible, with mistaken identities and cross-dressing stirring the pot that much more.

Twelfth Night begins with the famous line "if music be the food of love, play on" and accordingly, this production also serves up a host of original music written for the show by Paul Gordon, composer of TheatreWorks' recent well-received musical Emma.

Tickets are $20-$56. For more information, call 650.903.6000 or visit www.theatreworks.org.