Island Stage Left will perform Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s brilliant comedy of crossed wires and thwarted desires, opening Thursday, July 20 at 8 p.m. Their 24th “Shakespeare Under The Stars” production will run Thursdays to Sundays, July 20-Aug. 20, with no show on July 29.

Twelfth Night is a particular favorite of Island Stage Left stage director Helen Machin-Smith. “Shakespeare wrote it at a time when he had really hit his stride; it’s one of his wisest comedies,” she said. “It’s one of my personal favorites of the comedies, and it feels to me at the moment in this world like we need the comedies.”

According to the Island Stage Left press release. Twelfth Night is named after the night of rowdy revelry that marked the end of the Christmas season during Shakespeare’s time. The story alternates comedy and sadness in an effortlessly entertaining tale, spiced with love songs and swordplay.

“I also managed to persuade Sylvie to play Viola. She has always been the person that I most wished would play Viola, and we have done (this play) three times, and I finally snagged her.”

“Sylvie is also a musician, as well as being Viola,” adds Machin-Smith, “and there is this odd line in the beginning of the play ‘I can sing and speak to him in many kinds of music’ and then she never sings. So I decided we were going to have a singing Viola this time. When you see it, you’ll see exactly why. So that adds another wonderful layer.”

Sylvie Davidson is an actor and singer/songwriter based in the Pacific Northwest. She began her acting career in Seattle, where she played lead roles in many of the city’s well-known houses, including Book-It Repertory Theatre, New Century Theatre Company, ACT Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Village Theatre. Since her start in Seattle, Sylvie has received critical acclaim on stages from coast to coast including 59E59 Theaters in NYC, Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA, ACT Theatre in Seattle, and Laguna Playhouse in California.

For Davidson, who plays Viola, theatre has been a passion of hers since junior high and high school. “For me, it’s the storytelling that has just always captivated me. As a dancer before I was an actor, when I was little. Musician, songwriter. It’s just what calls to me, storytelling.”

Machin-Smith says “Twelfth Night is a comedy with depth. It’s a comedy that makes you sympathize with the villains. It takes you on a journey from laughter to tears. There’s tenderness in it. There’s depth to the characters. It’s a later comedy for (Shakespeare) and last year we did Comedy of Errors, which was one of his first plays—and they both hinge on the twin theme—but the Comedy of Errors is empty compared to Twelfth Night.”

In this performance, Shakespeare’s Olivia—a wealthy countess mourning the recent death of her brother—is played by Anya Johnson, a recent Master of Fine Arts graduate of Syracuse University in New York. Anya has loved performing since an early age, and shares twin passions for both great writing and theatre, which explains her deep love and appreciation for Shakespeare.

“I think it’s phenomenal what they do here, to bring the level of theater and actors to a small island where there’s not as much opportunity for culture,” says Anya. “I also have such an affinity for places that do Shakespeare well. I started doing Shakespeare when I was about five years old, so it’s very deep in my bones.”

“And I find that it’s hard to find good Shakespeare. Even with someone who is pretty familiar with the language, it’s hard for me to find Shakespeare that I enjoy and I want to sit through,” adds Anya. “I can tell the actors on stage know what they’re saying and are trying to make sense of it to the audience. So I think anytime a company does Shakespeare well, it’s like a gift.”

According to Island Stage Left, for the first time this year is an old friend of Helen and Dan’s, Robert Sicular, has joined the cast. The three of them met years ago, while working at the Oregon Shakespeare festival – “it was the year Ashland won a Tony award for the ensemble,” Machin-Smith points out. “I think it’s most important, the amount of experience that Robert and Dan bring us. And of course it’s just delightful to have Robert come to join us after all these years, when he and Dan were young leads and are now old gentlemen!”

Twelfth Night runs Thursdays-Sundays, July 20-August 20, with no show July 29. Island Stage Left is located at 1062 Wold Road, San Juan Island. All performances are at 8 p.m., and no latecomers. Chairs are provided at the outdoor theater, but the troupe recommends people bring very warm clothes, sweaters, even blankets and parkas, as it can get very cold as the sun goes down.

About The Director

Machin-Smith has been directing Island Stage Left productions for 24 years now, following their inaugural 1999 performance of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest.’ According to their website, “after many years earning their living in professional theatre Island Stage Left co-founders Helen Machin-Smith and Daniel Mayes moved to San Juan Island to fulfill their dream of creating their own theatre company and bringing the performing arts to a small, close-knit community in a beautiful place.”

For a long period of time in the early years of Island Stage Left the troupe traveled to other islands, including Waldron, Shaw, Lopez and Orcas. For several years they also played out at Roche Harbor, before then returning to the stage in the western rolling hills of San Juan Island.

While Machin-Smith says she and the cast members really enjoyed taking the show on the road, at 75 Machin-Smith says touring took a heavy toll on everybody. “It was really hard. Often there was no electricity, no bathrooms, and I’m crawling around in the underbrush and pulling wires through drainage tubes trying to get some kind of electricity into this very moldy trailer where everybody was.”

“And I had to create the front of the house,” adds Machin-Smith. “I mean, there was nothing so I had to run lights along the path and put up a tent as an entrance so that it felt like a theater. So it was a lot of work, and then we would come back here and perform here as well. So we had two sets to build, as well. So that was crazy. I was glad to give that one up. But all of us that took part in it miss touring.”

Twelfth Night Cast

The cast includes Sylvie Davidson as Viola; Anya Johnson as Olivia; Kathryn Bogley as Maria; Robert Sicular as Sir Toby Belch; Benjamin Nickols as Sir Andrew Aguecheek; Daniel Mayes as Malvolio; Alan Geddes as Feste; Chad Short as Fabian; Jason Marr as Orsino; Sidney Herda as Curio; Owen Kreger-Stickles as Sebastian; Kerry Skalsky as Antonio; Chad Short as Ship Captain; Dorian Oliver as Priest and Officer; Elizabeth Shephard as Servant to Olivia (AKA Elsie).

The crew includes Director Helen Machin-Smith; Assistant Director Georgia Smith; Stage Manager Randi Dooley Park; Technical Director Stephen Judson; Set Designer and Scenic Artist Susan Williams; Prompter Patti Bair.