Two Shakespeare plays for $40! Unbelievable!
Almost as unbelievable as the dazzling acting seen on the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Klein Theatre.
But hurry! Remaining tickets are few.
They are the ending performances by graduates of the Master of Fine Arts program the Shakespeare Theatre Academy offers in conjunction with George Washington University.
“If music be the food of love, play on!” They did.
The graduates are completing their year of extensive training in the fine arts of stage combat, classical language, acting, text, voice, speech, movement and combat experience, taught by accomplished actors and trained crew.
Lest anyone think these are amateurish shows because they are performed by “new” graduates, not only have these students graduated college with each boasting a string of performances ranging from off Broadway to local companies to regional theatres throughout the U.S., they are, in the words of Malvolio:
“not afraid of greatness” for
“some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.”
They all perform in both the comedy, Twelfth Night and the tragedy, MacBeth and who's to say which is better?
The sets are minimal, the costumes (by Cidney Forkpah, assisted by Lily Komarov) are contemporary, but the sounds, the sounds! (By Matt Nielson who composed original scores) are outstanding:
The thunder!
The clashing of helmets!
The lightning (sound?),
The waves crashing upon the shore while the Twelfth Nighters bend from their waists and sway with the waves before the shipwreck off the coast of Illyria and the ensuing mix-ups. (In Shakespeare? Mix-ups? ‘Tis cannot be!)
The scariest ghouls made up in the most divine (?) ways! They move, they float, they come at your throat!
(The orchestration of the stringed instruments was most pleasing to the ear.)
Puppet Designer Ksenya Litvak’s puppets are magnificent. (Andrey Stuurman was consultant.)
And who can pass up opportunities to hear words of the master spoken on stage as in:
“O, full of scorpions is my mind!”
“Out, damned spot! out, I say!”
“Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!”“Fair is foul, and foul is fair, hover through fog and filthy air.”
The graduates are Bridget Campbell, Julian Cividanes, Kimberly Colisch, Kira Cornell, C.J. Craig, Michael Girts, Sofia Hernandez Morales, Claire Hilton, and Cameron Holder.
Also, Kendall Kent, Robert Kittler, Anna Marzullo, and Lenny Mendez Terceros, Matilda Musser, and Olivia Potter.
Jess Chayes directs Twelfth Night; Alec Wild, Macbeth.
Other artistic team members are:
Minjoo Kim, lighting; Robb Hunter, fight director; Bess Kaye, intimacy coordinator; Lisa Beley,
voice and text coach; Cammiel Hussey, Twelfth Night, and Katie McDonald, Macbeth, assistant directors; Maddie Caldis, production manager; Regina Vitale, stage manager; Maria Mills,
assistant stage manager.
Applause to all, especially to Emma Crane Jaster, movement director.
Remember, there is always:
“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
And
“What's done, is done”
What: Twelfth Night and Macbeth
When: In repertory through Saturday, July 25, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. and one Twelfth Night matinee at 2 p.m., July 25.
Where: Shakespeare Theatre Company, Klein Theatre, 450 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
How much: $25 each performance or $40 for both
Duration: Twelfth Night runs almost three hours with one intermission; MacBeth, about 2.5 hours with an intermission.
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