Full of sadness, comedy and romance, the CSUN Department of Theatre introduced their first production of the semester with “Twelfth Night.”

“Twelfth Night” is set in 1940, with a film noir twist and directed by Shelby Lewis. The story follows Viola, played by Wren Elizabeth Grant, who is separated from her twin brother Sebastain, played by Jaden Davis, after a shipwreck.

The story introduces characters like Olivia, who mourns the recent loss of her father and brother, and Orsino, who is deeply in love with Olivia. As Viola disguises herself as Cesario, mistaken identity plays a huge role in the production.

“Twelfth Night is no doubt a beloved, zany comedy that has kept audiences in stitches for hundreds of years,” Lewis wrote in the playbill. “But this wildly popular Shakespearean play also tells a story of the heavy aftermath of grief and the nasty tricks that love can play on a longing heart.”

Acting in a Shakespearean play can be a daunting challenge due to the difference in the language being spoken. For Matthew Hawkins-Bolanos, the memorization came easily because of the advanced theatre acting class they had previously taken.

Hawkins-Bolanos, who played Sir Toby Belch, is a theatre major at CSUN. The biggest challenge they faced was getting the language to make sense for an audience that may not know Shakespeare as well.

“People are going to go in, and maybe it’s their first Shakespeare play, or they watch this play a million times, and they know what to expect,” Hawkins-Bolanos said. “You really want to honor that, because Shakespeare is such a big name, and us as, you know, theatre people and actors, we really want to honor that as best as possible.”

Hawkins-Bolanos described his character as a very lovable drunk uncle – someone who tries to lighten the mood for Oliva since she’s mourning and tries to uplift the office.

“They’re all trying their best to either find love or find a better way of life than what they’re living right now,” Hawkins-Bolanos said. “So he’s trying to help that with laughter.”

Connection between the audience and the cast was also seen during the production. Rebecca Oca-Nussbaum, who played the character Olivia, said the director encouraged the cast to speak to the audience.

“I love looking right at people and talking right to them,” Oca-Nussabum said. ”It was such a feeling of connection with the audience, and we are experiencing these events together.”

Oca-Nassabum explained that Olivia is a very bold, confident character and playing the role made her feel beautiful. She enjoyed studying the meaning of every line, as people today don’t naturally speak in that language.

“I love Shakespeare. I feel like, if you can find the meaning of it, it just makes so much sense. But again – it takes that understanding to unlock it,” Oca-Nassabum said.

Although the production had its run, the next production, “The Conference of the Birds,” is set for March 13, 14, 25-28. More information can be found on the CSUN Department of Theatre page.