Summer Sanders

University of Central Arkansas 

Senior

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Hello, my name is Summer Sanders, I am 20 years old, and I attend UCA with a major in Theatre and a minor in Creative Writing. I am queer, nonbinary (Any pronouns are fine) and when I’m not buried under a mountain of homework I enjoy watching 80’s movies and over-analyzing musicals. 

Designing for the Bard: An Exercise in Middle-Class Catharsis

        Twelfth Night is my favorite Shakespeare play for many reasons. The themes of identity, performative gender norms, and disguising oneself, always appealed to me as a queer nonbinary person, the characters are relatable in their absurdity, the dialogue is witty, etc. That said, the most important reason I wanted to design this play is as follows: Twelfth Night gives me an outlet to partake in one of my favorite past times: making fun of rich people. My design followed that last point heavily.

Where is the best setting to show the tomfoolery of the 1%? A private island resort, full of indifferent staff and hapless morons in swim trunks. These characters, despite their historical origins, seem to be made of this setting. The Fool is so easily a bad stand-up comedian and lounge singer from Las Vegas. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew are the old drinking buddies with a bit too much time to spend at the craps table. Our love triangle participants were raised on trashy romance novels and terrible soap operas, so of course they’d get themselves in this romantic mess. 

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Shakespeare can be quite divisive in its perceived prestige, many often state not liking it solely for its pretentious reputation and dialogue that requires a dictionary, but there is something universal about Orsino lamenting his forlorn love over a Pina Colada. No matter your views on Shakespeare, your theatrical knowledge, your interest level, there is something universally fun in laughing at the rich.