Moorestown Friends Tackles Shakespeare in Gender-Bending Comedy

To prepare for her role as Viola/Cesario in ’s production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night—opening tonight—Katherine Churchill had to learn how to play a girl playing a boy.

She had to learn how guys walk, their posture and mannerisms, their voice.

“I tried putting on a John Wayne voice for a while. But the director didn’t like it,” said Churchill, 17, who ultimately decided to just run with her own voice.

Taking in the troupe’s final rehearsal Thursday night before the curtain lifts this evening, director Mark Gornto had virtually no complaints about his cast’s performance.

“They’re great. I’m pleased,” he said just before the start of rehearsal. “Now’s my chance to sit back and watch it all happen, with as little tinkering as possible.”

The cast of roughly 25 faced some initial challenges tackling the Bard’s dense language and monologues.

Julia Rudolph, 18, who plays Olivia, said for the first time in her young acting career she had to use flashcards to help her memorize her lines.

It wasn’t just memorizing the lines either, the actors said. It was also about understanding the meaning behind the words.

“It took me a little longer to memorize the words,” said 17-year-old Joseph Antonakakis, who played the lead in at the end of last year. You have to understand what you’re saying, he said, “because you could be saying something and acting happy and it doesn’t make any sense.”

And though Noah Rubenstein, 18, who plays Malvolio, acknowledged “it’s possible” to speak a line without knowing its meaning, “it’s probably not a good thing.”

Gornto said the other challenge of doing a play like Twelfth Night is it’s a comedy, which despite its lighthearted nature, is actually a more difficult genre than drama.

Asked which Shakespearean plays are harder to perform—his tragedies vs. his comedies—Gornto said, “My default answer would be comedy, cause it’s all about timing, and if a joke tanks, it’s hard to recover.”

For young actors, he said, “The go-to emotion is always anger, because it’s easier to portray.”

But the beauty of Shakespeare's plays, he said, is despite their age, they all "deal with themes that are universal ... This show takes all those themes and puts a little lightheartedness in it, it adds a levity to important subjects." 

The show will run at 7 p.m. tonight and Saturday. Looking to reserve a seat last minute? Tickets ($12/adults; $10/students and children) can be purchased in Stokes Hall until 4:15 p.m. today.

A partial cast list:

Viola — Katherine Churchill

Olivia — Julia Rudolph

Malvolio — Noah Rubenstein

Sir Andrew Aguecheek — Kyle Shivers

Sir Toby Belch — Chukwuebuka Anayo

Orsino — Jeron Stephens

Maria — Katie Loane

Fabian — Toni Pollitt

Feste, the Jester — Joe Antonakakis