Due to the ongoing public health concerns related to COVID-19 and feedback from our Community Tour partners, Delaware Shakespeare has made the decision to postpone this fall’s Community Tour – a world premiere bilingual musical adaptation of Twelfth Night – until the fall of 2021.
“While we’re disappointed not to be able to bring a full production to our Community Tour partners in 2020, this was the only decision that made sense given the vulnerable nature of many of our audiences,” said David Stradley, producing artistic director. “The tour producing model is defined by an up-close and personal connection between actor and audience. We bring 8-10 artists and 40-100 audience members into small spaces, where the actor is only a few feet away from the audience. This sort of performance style is not possible at the moment.”
In the world of silver linings, it turns out not to be as easy as it looks to write a bilingual Spanish-English musical inspired by a Shakespeare comedy. Our writing team will use the additional year to further refine the script and score, delivering a better experience to our audience in 2021. Authors Liz Filios, Tanaquil Márquez, and Robi Hager shared this statement:
“The postponement of this production due to COVID-19 allows us more time to write music and finesse the adaptation. Because actors have already been cast, we will be able to write specifically for the performers who will play the roles. The result, we hope, will be a powerful performance for audiences from across the state of Delaware that unites arts and activism in the name of social justice.”
Del Shakes will be holding a virtual developmental workshop from November 10-21. During that time, look for a special preview video featuring music from the adaptation. In addition, the Del Shakes Associate Artists will be creating innovative ways we can still serve many of our long-term tour partners with virtual or small-scale, in-person programming.
