Twelfth Night: 1941, a new play by Ellyn Heald that sets Shakespeare's comedy inside a London church hall during the Blitz, gets its world premiere at The Episcopal Actors' Guild for nine performances, December 9–19.
The night is January 5, 1941, the twelfth day of Christmas. A company of actors meets in a freezing church hall to put on Twelfth Night, knowing that James, one of their leading men, leaves for the war the next morning. Nobody says it aloud, but it is the last time they will all share a stage, and their plan to give him a proper farewell runs straight into Shakespeare's comedy of mistaken identity. The result is a play within a play, where backstage grudges and wartime dread spill into the performance.
Heald wrote the piece and directs it. A LAMDA-trained actor, she made her Broadway debut in 2024 in Jez Butterworth's The Hills of California, and she founded Living Room Productions, the Brooklyn company producing the show. The idea draws on a real wartime story: the actor-manager Donald Wolfit and the Advance Players Association, who kept Shakespeare going in London through the bombing, sometimes playing while the raids were on.
Live music runs through the evening. Will Healy wrote the original score, with additional lyrics by Heald, and it is played onstage by Mary Knapp (accordion), YoonJung Hwang (violin) and Victoria Chaib (piano).
The company of nine is Michael Bradley, Elizabeth Colwell, Kaileela Hobby, John Maddaloni, Diego Millan, Drew Springer Miller, Joe Staton, Chad Pierre Vann and Dan Wilson. Steven Smith designs the costumes and Alissa Mills is the stage manager. Laura Carswell is lead producer, with Martin Kemp as co-producer and Kaileela Hobby and Helena Mueller as associate producers.
Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7pm, plus one 2pm matinee on Saturday, December 12. The show runs 90 minutes. The Episcopal Actors' Guild is at 1 East 29th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues, and tickets are $45.
For more information, visit the official website.
