By Miguel A Gastelum
Fresno State’s University Theatre presents the final production of its 2025-26 Mainstage Season, “Twelfth Night,” written by William Shakespeare and directed and adapted by Michelle Bellaver.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. May 1 and 2, May 5 through 9, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 3, at the John W. Wright Theatre on campus. Tickets are $20 for adults, $18 for Fresno State faculty, staff, alumni and military, $5 for Fresno State students and $10 for all other students. This production contains mature content and themes. Children under 5 will not be admitted.
Shipwrecked and separated from her twin brother, Viola washes ashore in the land of Illyria and disguises herself as a man to work for the Duke Orsino. But things quickly spiral into romantic chaos when Viola falls for Orsino — who’s in love with the Countess Olivia — who then falls for Viola in disguise. Full of mistaken identities, unrequited love and hilarious twists, “Twelfth Night” is Shakespeare’s witty, heartwarming celebration of love in all its beautiful confusion.
“There are two elements to Shakespeare’s ‘Twelfth Night’ that informed my vision as a director,” Bellaver said. “The subtitle ‘What You Will,’ and Viola’s line of dialogue: ‘O Time! thou must untangle this, not I.’ The first feels like Shakespeare reaching out to me across the centuries saying ‘do what you will,’ i.e. as a modern woman director, ‘you have permission to interpret and adapt as needed.’ The second feels like a conceptual mandate.
“The line infers that time itself is a character in the play. While time is important in helping the characters move from grief to joy, in Viola I also see the contemporary shadings of examining and role-playing gender, just as Viola does in her drag persona of Cesario. This modernity makes Viola a character out of time and so I have explored setting her literally out of sync with the past of Elizabethan England to explore her nature as an outlier who becomes the influencer, helping me as the director to bring Shakespeare forward to the audience of today.”
“Twelfth Night” features performances by Brooke Aiello, Raegan Ankenman, Jason Davidson, Ananda Desirea, Angelina Feishhacker-Ruiz, Ronnie McClure, Austin Osuna, Wade Pierson, Ava Plank, Eddie Quezada, Beyonce Rodriguez-Fabela, Molly Smith, Josh Taber and Haley White.
Doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain. Latecomers will not be seated after curtain. No refunds or exchanges. The box office is open Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 3 p.m. and one hour before each performance, accepting cash, check and credit card.
Parking is free for Friday through Sunday evening performances. Tuesday through Thursday evening performances require a parking permit, available at campus parking dispensers.
For more information, contact the box office at 559.278.2216 or universitytheatre@csufresno.edu.
