Put on your yellow stockings and travel to Illyria to get mixed up in one of Shakespeare’s great comedies with the A.B.L.E. Ensemble.
When twins Viola and Sebastian are separated in a violent shipwreck, each believes the other perished in the storm. Attempting to build a new life in this new land, Viola adopts a disguise and unwittingly steps into a chain of unrequited, misplaced, and downright confused love.
Speaking in The Bard’s original verse, 20 teenage actors with Down syndrome accompanied by a team of teaching artists will share roles in scenes, monologues, and songs to tell this tale about identity and love – and how things can be different than what they seem. The actors share roles, with each playing 2 or 3 characters throughout the story, allowing them to share different sides of their personalities and giving everyone a chance to be in the spotlight.
Twelfth Night was produced in partnership with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at Navy Pier as part of Shakespeare 400 – an international festival celebrating the vibrancy, relevance, and reach of Shakespeare.
Actors: Colleen Altman, Quincy Bane, Marissa Bloodgood, Rachel Buchanan, Jack Butler, Benjamin Collins, Alena Counter Brown, Samuel Floersheimer, Natalia Janik, Fletcher Jones, Andrew Kosnik, Emily Kwidzinski, Emily Lavin, Mila Medina, Lucas Miezal, Claire O’Leary, Sam Petri, Sam Radinsky, Hannah Vilic, Lucy Walsh
Facilitators: Somer Benson, Ariel Hartman, Kaylie Honkala, Kate Magon, Sean Okerberg, Alanna Rogers, Beth Sherwood, Susan Sjodin, Lindsay Stock
Teaching Artists: Lawrence Kern, Kendra Van Kempen, Peter Van Kempen, Katie Yohe
Musicians: Peter Van Kempen, Paul Van Kempen, Kaylie Honkala
Lighting Design: Eric Van Tassell
Behind the Scenes of Twelfth Night
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Twelfth Night With Shakespeare 400
We took a break from class on Friday so our actors and teaching staff could celebrate Thanksgiving with their families and friends. Since we don’t have a rehearsal update for you this week, we’re pleased to give you a peek at plans for our next show… Twelfth Night Our very first production was Romeo & Juliet, and…
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Brush Up Your Shakespeare: Part 1
Twelfth Night will be ABLE’s FIFTH Shakespeare production. In Part 1 of a 3 Part series, ABLE Founder and Director Katie Yohe takes you through the process of adapting these classic texts for our ensemble. As a performer, Shakespeare is some of the most gratifying work I have ever done, and I LOVE seeing our ensemble tackle these timeless…
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Brush Up Your Shakespeare: Part 2
Last week, ABLE founder and Director Katie Yohe explained how she starts adapting Shakespearean texts to work with our ensemble (click here if you missed it). This week, in Part 2 of our 3 part series, she’ll explain more about selecting scenes, editing text, and devising group numbers for the performance. SELECTING AND EDITING SCENES Once…
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Crash Course in Twelfth Night
My story starts at sea… a perilous voyage to an unknown land… a shipwreck… The wild waters roar and heave… The brave vessel is dashed all to pieces, and all the helpless souls within her drowned… all save one… a lady… whose soul is greater than the ocean… and her spirit stronger than the sea’s…
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Ready to Rock!
It’s here! It’s here! Today is our first official day of rehearsals for Twelfth Night and we can’t wait to get started. A lot of work happens before we can let loose at dance party. Here’s a recap of our busy weekend preparations: Friday – Parent Meeting Every semester before classes begin, we have a…
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Rehearsal Log: WEEK 1
We had an incredible first week of classes! This semester, we’ve split our big group of 20 actors into two smaller groups of 10, with one group meeting on Monday night and the other meeting on Fridays. Katie and Lawrence are heading up the Monday class and Kendra and Peter lead the Friday night session. This…
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Rehearsal Log: WEEK 2
Each ABLE class is staffed with 2 teaching artists (Kendra, Peter, Katie, and Lawrence), and at least 3 volunteer facilitators (enough to make a 2:1 actor:staff ratio). Facilitators rotate in and out of classes (generally attending 5 or 6 during the semester, though most of our team are so committed they come to more), and…
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Rehearsal Log: WEEK 3
We’re continuing to get to know our characters and going deeper into the story of Twelfth Night for our big performance coming up in May. You can get your tickets to see our show by clicking here, but in the meantime, our Facilitators Ariel and Lindsay are offering you a behind the scenes look at our…
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Rehearsal Log: WEEK 4
Happy World Down Syndrome Day! Today (3/21), and everyday, we celebrate our ensemble and remind the world that people with Down syndrome are more than just one thing. We are so proud to see them diving into Twelfth Night and having fun with these classic characters and crazy story! Read on to find out about…
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Rehearsal Log: WEEK 5
This semester is flying by! We can’t believe it’s spring break already! Our cast and crew have been enjoying some much needed nights off, but we still wanted to share the happenings from our last Monday class on 3/21, which also happened to be World Down Syndrome Day! Special thanks to all of the people who…
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A Day at Chicago Shakes!
As you know, this spring, our ensemble will perform on the Mainstage at Chicago Shakespeare Theater as part of the international festival, Shakespeare 400 Chicago! This weekend we got a special chance to visit the theater, see a version of the same story we’re working on, meet some professional actors, AND get up onstage! Chicago Shakespeare Theater has…
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Rehearsal Log: WEEK 6!
This was a big week for our ensemble. After spending the first several weeks of class learning all of the characters and events in TWELFTH NIGHT, this week our ensemble got the chance to audition for their favorite roles. Each actor picked their 3 favorite characters, and took turns sharing lines and showing off their characterizations…
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Rehearsal Log – WEEK 7
After the fun of last week’s auditions, our teaching artists had a hard job assigning final scenes to our entire ensemble. Everyone got at least one of the roles they auditioned for, and at least 3 roles total, so they’ll be able to show off their acting range and versatility, and everyone will get a…
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Rehearsal Log: WEEK 8!
Spring break is over and we only have one month left until our performance of Twelfth Night May 28th at Chicago Shakespeare Theater! Now that roles have been cast, our remaining rehearsals will focus on blocking scenes, staging our group numbers, and practicing all the other elements of the show. Monday Recap (by Sean Okerberg) Our…
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Rehearsal Log: Week 9!
Time is moving very fast – there are only have 2 regular rehearsals left before we go into the theatre! Our actors have been hard at work in classes diving into their scenes, setting blocking, and refining their characters for our big performance on May 28th at 11am at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. You do not want…
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Rehearsal Log: Week 10!
Generally, our semesters are only 10 weeks, plus dress rehearsal, and the final performance. We are so honored to be a part of Shakespeare 400 Chicago, and thrilled at the opportunity to perform at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, that we added an extra week of rehearsal for Twelfth Night. Working on a thrust stage will be a new…
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Rehearsal Log: Week 11!
Last week was our final week of regular rehearsals. Tonight, our entire ensemble of 20 actors will tread the boards at Chicago Shakes for a dress/tech rehearsal. We are excited to put both groups together and share what we’ve been working on all semester, and to see our big group numbers – Sweet Viola and Hey Ho – come to…
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Twelfth Night Recap!
We hope you had a great Memorial Day and have had an awesome week. Five years ago, we staged our first Shakespeare play, Romeo & Juliet with an ensemble of 6 actors. Our audience of just over 60 people sat on metal folding chairs and bleachers in the Fasseas Studio at The Menomonee Club. It was a beautiful…
