Apex Theatre Studio will present Shakespeare’s hilarious and touching romantic comedy, Twelfth Night, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22, inside Gulliford Hall at Adele Grage Cultural Center, 716 Ocean Blvd.
The annual “Shakespeare in the Park” production is being moved to Gulliford Hall from Johansen Park because the weather forecast anticipates the temperature Friday will reach the high-90s and will remain in the 90s at show time.
While the event is free, the change means that tickets will be required and will be limited due to the theatre’s seating capacity. To reserve your seat, visit www.coab.us/TwelfthNightTickets. Attendees are encouraged to walk, bike, carpool or rideshare, as space and parking is limited.
The performance has a running time of 90 minutes without intermission. Doodlebops Ice Cream will be serving up sweet treats, and there will be free popcorn provided by the Recreation Department.
Apex Theatre Studio features professional actors, teaching artists, and students from Apex Theatre Studio located in World Golf Village. The production is sponsored by the City of Atlantic Beach.
In Twelfth Night, a young woman, Viola, is shipwrecked in a foreign land and separated from her twin brother, dresses as a man to enter the service of Orsino, Duke of IIlyria. Complications ensue -- deceptions, infatuations, misdirected overtures, malevolent pranks -- as everyone is drawn into the hysterical confusion.
“This is the fifth year we have been able to bring Shakespeare to the community, and it feels less like a play and more like a party,” said Raines Carr, artistic director for the production.
The City of Atlantic Beach anticipates scheduling future Shakespeare in the Parks during the cooler months of the year. For information, email recreation@coab.us or call (904) 247-5828.
WHAT: Bard Bus presents Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 21, and Saturday, July 22
WHERE: Gulliford Hall at Adele Grage Cultural Center, 716 Ocean Blvd., Atlantic Beach