
BAREFOOT YOUTH THEATRE PRESENTS
12TH NIGHT
by William Shakespeare
This adaptation was lovingly written by Christian Plonka to make such a large show present, pertinent, and useful for local youth to participate and learn from this Shakespeare classic.
This show introduces a Class Clown into an already sticky situation of the interests of the most popular guy in school, Orsino, and the new girl, Olivia. In light of this, what was one set of crushes becomes a high school love triangle. This farce follows the intense opinions of Olivia's acquaintances about who Olivia should love being solved in their own trial by error way.
The production was built around the concept of a show with which the youth could more easily empathize. The original, maturely themed, show was brought to High School where the themes of marriages were portrayed as "crushes". Where the original show had family arranged relationships, we have friends meddling with their friends crushes. The language is present. The content was spun to those youth that are looking to learn from it.
The play is pure and wonderful fun. It is without victimization or judgement and appropriate for all ages. The youngest in our cast is 9 years old. Appropriateness follows the actors who have been cast.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: Christian Plonka is a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University studying how to institute theater as an educational tool. He is, also, a pre-primary teacher at a local Montessori. "These are the two halves to my life as an artist: compassion and education. From age 8, when I began studying Shakespeare, to now, I have been performing on stage and designing backstage. Through these 14 years on and off stage I trained for 6 years in clown and mime work, 5 years were spent studying design, specifically props work. As for the last three years I have worked professionally in design and administration in the Detroit Area."
12TH NIGHT
by William Shakespeare
This adaptation was lovingly written by Christian Plonka to make such a large show present, pertinent, and useful for local youth to participate and learn from this Shakespeare classic.
This show introduces a Class Clown into an already sticky situation of the interests of the most popular guy in school, Orsino, and the new girl, Olivia. In light of this, what was one set of crushes becomes a high school love triangle. This farce follows the intense opinions of Olivia's acquaintances about who Olivia should love being solved in their own trial by error way.
The production was built around the concept of a show with which the youth could more easily empathize. The original, maturely themed, show was brought to High School where the themes of marriages were portrayed as "crushes". Where the original show had family arranged relationships, we have friends meddling with their friends crushes. The language is present. The content was spun to those youth that are looking to learn from it.
The play is pure and wonderful fun. It is without victimization or judgement and appropriate for all ages. The youngest in our cast is 9 years old. Appropriateness follows the actors who have been cast.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: Christian Plonka is a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University studying how to institute theater as an educational tool. He is, also, a pre-primary teacher at a local Montessori. "These are the two halves to my life as an artist: compassion and education. From age 8, when I began studying Shakespeare, to now, I have been performing on stage and designing backstage. Through these 14 years on and off stage I trained for 6 years in clown and mime work, 5 years were spent studying design, specifically props work. As for the last three years I have worked professionally in design and administration in the Detroit Area."
CAST AND CREW OF "12TH NIGHT"