Upstart Crows to bring 'Twelfth Night' to stage

Twelfth Night is the topsy-turvy last day of the Christmas season.

In Shakespeare’s version, “Twelfth Night” is about illusion, deception, disguises, madness and the extraordinary things that love will cause us to do — and to see.

The play opens with a shipwrecked Viola and her twin Sebastian, each believing the other has drowned.

Viola, dressed as a boy, takes the name Cesario, joins the court of Count Orsino and becomes his favorite. Sent to woo the Countess Olivia, Cesario is too successful; she falls in love with “him.”

Marked by a cascade of comic twists and turns, the Upstart Crows of Santa Fe will perform Shakespeare’s romantic comedy on Aug. 4-6 and Aug. 11-13 at the city’s United Universalist Church. The production stars two casts of 24 actors ages 10 to 18.

“ ‘Twelfth Night’ is known as a comedy,” said founder Caryl Farkas. “We just finished ‘King Lear.’ After a play where just about everyone is dead on the ground, we’re looking for some substantive relief.”

“Twelfth Night” is Farkas’ favorite play.

“I think it’s the language,” she said. “It’s the incredible cleverness and all that’s going on — that love really is blind. It’s gender-blind and it’s status-blind. It can make us ridiculous. But it’s so deep and heartfelt. And it’s funny.”

The double casts give all the actors substantial roles with no experience necessary.

“Every actor has a counterpart who helps with directing,” Farkas said. “Sometimes, we’ll have two people play a character completely differently.”

Farkas launched the Crows in 2014 after seeing a similar youth troupe perform “Measure for Measure” in Madison, Wisconsin.

“My 5-year-old was just riveted,” she said. “Part of it was her peers doing this work. She asked to meet the director and wanted to sign up right away.”

In early July, Farkas took the Crows to the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Canada. The actors attended workshops in voice, movement and text work and saw “King Lear,” “Richard II” and “Spamalot.”