Maynardville Open-Air Festival brings Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s funniest love triangle to life with a jazz-era twist by a starry ensemble who know their way around mischief, mistaken identity, and more than a little romance.
Experience the Bard’s beloved comedy like never before in our al fresco production of Twelfth Night, set to a sultry jazz soundtrack that echoes the sophisticated sounds of 1960’s Rome. Couture costumes, Sofia Loren-style, shimmer under the stars as our cast brings to life the timeless tale of love, deception and mistaken identity, infused with the decadent glamour of Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. Join us for a night of revelry and romance, where Shakespeare’s witty repartee meets the hedonistic charm of Italy’s ‘Sweet Life’.
Brought to life under award winning director Steven Stead (My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Metamorphoses) this sparkling, jazz-infused reimagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a feast of love, laughter, and ludicrous disguises. Shipwrecks, gender-bending intrigue, and one particularly memorable pair of yellow stockings collide in Illyria, a world where passion runs riot and common sense rarely stands a chance!
When Viola (Emily Child) washes ashore and disguises herself as a man, she quickly finds herself entangled in the affections of the lovesick Orsino (Jock Kleynhans) and the formidable Olivia (Jenny Stead). Add to this mix the pompous Malvolio (Graham Hopkins), the quick-witted clown Feste (David Viviers), and a pair of drunken schemers, Sir Toby Belch (Michael Richard) and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Aidan Scott), and you have all the ingredients for Shakespeare’s most deliciously chaotic comedy.
The title Twelfth Night refers to the twelfth day after Christmas, the Feast of Epiphany, traditionally a time of festivity, mischief, and role-reversals. Shakespeare’s play captures that spirit of revelry and topsy-turvy fun, where disguises, mistaken identities, and love triangles flourish under a carnival mood.
A riotous celebration of mistaken identity, unrequited love, and revelry under the stars, this production promises to keep Maynardville buzzing with laughter and romance this summer.
WHAT: William Shakespeare 12th Night – Directed by Steven Stead
WHERE: Maynardville Park, Church St cnr Woolf St, Wynberg, Cape Town 7700
WHEN: 30 JANUARY – 8 MARCH 2026
BOOKING: Quicket | Approximate Running Time: 90 minutes without an interval. This classic comedy is suitable for All Ages.
INFO: Maynardville Open-Air Festival PROGRAMME
Director’s Note by Steven Stead
Twelfth Night is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s most joyous comedies, but its humour comes from the supreme discomfort of its characters as they wrestle with the difference between who they think they are and who they really are. They present themselves as pompous, melancholy, lovesick, or vain, yet their carefully polished images are constantly tripped up by their truer, more vulnerable, or unpredictable selves. That collision creates comedy that feels both recognisable and deeply human.
This production is set in a Fellini-esque, 1960s Italy – a world of sunshine, glamour, and larger-than-life theatricality. Inspired by Fellini’s La Dolce Vita and the films of Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, it places Shakespeare’s story in a landscape where elegance and sensuality sit side by side with absurdity and wit.
The music, the fashion, and the cinematic verve of the period give the play a heady atmosphere, while also sharpening its central theme: when appearances matter most, the truth is bound to break through. To great comic effect!
Twelfth Night reminds us that laughter doesn’t always spring from comfort, but from discomfort, from the deliciously awkward moments when disguises slip, pretences collapse, and the messy reality of being human bursts into view.
