Cheeky humour meets Shakespearean style in the next outing by Douglas College theatre students.
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is onstage March 6 to 13 at the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre at the college.
The play, by Canadian playwright Ann-Marie MacDonald, follows the adventures of an associate professor whose doctoral thesis on Shakespeare is panned by a colleague. The associate professor finds herself transported into the Bard’s world, where she inadvertently sends Othello and Romeo and Juliet off in hilarious new directions – and finds her true self along the way.
Thrasso Petras, director, says audience members only need to have a “friendly knowledge” of Shakespeare to appreciate the play.
“It’s a delightful play because you get to luxuriate in the style and language of Shakespearean theatre,” Petras said in a press release. “And, at the same time, it’s extremely relatable for today’s audience. There’s a little dirty humour and a little sword fighting, and who doesn’t like that?”
Petras chose the play because, he said, it was a seminal piece during his time at university and has always held a place in his heart.
“It’s such a charming piece because our students get to work on Shakespeare – it’s written in iambic pentameter and interspersed with excerpts from Romeo and Juliet and Othello – but there’s also a bevy of contemporary twists,” he said.
It’s brought to the stage by students in the department of theatre, along with stagecraft and event technology students.
The cast includes Aidan Currie, Hana Nishimoto, Bryan Kazun, Natalie Peters and Trinity Sullivan.
The theatre is on the fourth floor north at Douglas College’s New Westminster campus, 700 Royal Ave. The play is onstage Friday, March 6 through Friday, March 13.
Tickets ($5 to $20) are available through Brown Paper Tickets online at https://goodnightdesdemona.bpt.me/
