Troy University’s Department of Theatre and Dance will open the 2025-2026 production season with William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, “Twelfth Night” beginning Friday, October 10 through Saturday, October 18 in the Trojan Center Theater.
Set in 1920s New Orleans, “Twelfth Night” follows twins separated by shipwreck. Viola disguises herself as a man serving Duke Orsino, who loves Olivia. But Olivia falls for Viola’s disguise, and Sebastian’s surprise arrival creates chaos in this tale of mistaken identity.
“Twelfth Night’s” Director and Lecturer of Theatre Performance, Alex Piper, shared about the natural connection between Shakespeare’s world and the production’s New Orleans setting:
“Shakespeare’s play drew inspiration from the traditional celebration of The Feast of the Epiphany, a religious festival that was also a time of inversion, misrule, and topsy-turvy antics,” Piper shared. “A moment in the year when social norms get overturned, disguises blur boundaries, and love appears in unexpected places. New Orleans is an American cultural lens through which we can view the action of the play unfolding while maintaining the interconnectedness of religious influence and hedonistic antics. Like traveling to St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square by way of Bourbon Street.”
Tori Lee Averett, Department Chair and Associate Professor, emphasized the educational value of producing Shakespeare in a university setting.
“The opportunity to engage with Shakespeare is not only a hallmark of serious theatre study, it’s a treat to get to take this excellent, time-tested material and bring it into newer, more modern contexts,” Averett shared. “It gives all our students a chance to dig into some wonderful script analysis and interpretive work – performers, designers, technicians, managers, and everyone involved.”
Piper shared his vision for the 2025-2026 season’s impact.
“I hope that this production of “Twelfth Night”sets in motion a season full of self-exploration, self-discovery, and transformation of self through cultivated creativity within our students and department,” Piper said. “For audiences, I hope this season is one filled with a deepening of our collective cultural awareness, of challenging audience expectations, and one of seeing themselves more clearly as a result of experiencing the world through the lens of these dynamic works.”
Averett shared that the department is always excited to welcome audiences to their shows, whether they’re first-time visitors or returning patrons of the arts.
“The opportunity to gather and enjoy live theatre and dance is something we value and prioritize – it’s important to connect as a community as often as we can, and we’re proud to offer that space for people to come together for a shared experience,” she said. “We hope that our audiences are entertained, uplifted, challenged, inspired, enlightened, and moved by what they see this season.”
Tickets for “Twelfth Night” are $10 and can be bought here or at the Trojan Center box office near Barnes and Noble. For more information, call 334-808-6142 or email theatreanddance@troy.edu.
To learn more about this production from student performers click here.
