MINNEAPOLIS — Everything about the Guthrie Theater's production of "Twelfth Night" is fluid.
The music sounds like it could have come directly from the Bard, yet carries the hint of a modern rock concert.
The set, spare and industrial with vibrant red balloons drifting in and out, does not belong to any one time period.
Even the stage itself is covered in a shallow pool of water, maybe reflecting one of the strongest themes in the play.
In William Shakespeare's timeless work, the characters and their love flow in and out of the plot, changing with every scene. A woman becomes a man to survive, then falls in love with a man, meanwhile capturing the love of another woman who believes she's a man.
Confused yet? You will continue to be delightfully confounded until the end of the spectacle.
Delight, in fact, is a central theme that director Tom Quaintance, in his debut at the Guthrie, wanted to convey. He references the poem "A Brief for the Defense," by Jack Gilbert, to explain his thinking about the play.
The poem begins with the line "Sorrow everywhere." But it comes back to the declaration, "We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight.
TWELFTH NIGHT
Guthrie Theater
Wurtele Thrust stage
Feb. 8-March 22
Tickets range from $25-$79
Tickets and more information
Editor's Note: KARE 11 was invited to this performance by the Guthrie Theater.