Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release                                         
October 21, 1999

Actors from the London Stage Performing "Twelfth Night" at Lawrence
University 


     APPLETON, WIS. -- Three performances of William Shakespeare's
"Twelfth Night" will be staged at Lawrence University's Stansbury
Theatre Nov. 10, 11 
and 13 by a five-member British professional acting troupe.
     Members of Actors from the London Stage will perform "Twelfth
Night" on Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 10-11 at 8 p.m. and on Saturday,
Nov. 13 at 3 p.m.   
     The production, performed with minimal props, costumes and lighting
effects, features five actors portraying nearly 30 different characters
between them.  The actors shift roles through gesture, stance,
intonation or the simple use of a skirt or scarf.  Chairs serve as
tables, cauldrons, thrones or podiums as needed.  The production relies
on the spoken words to carry the play.
     One of Shakespeare's most popular plays, "Twelfth Night" is a tale
of tangled romances and explores the problems resulting from gender,
identity and the "madness" caused by love.  Complications arise when two
twins, Viola and Sebastian, are separated by a shipwreck and reappear in
Illyria with Viola now disguised as a boy, Cesario.
     The five cast members are all veterans of the classical theatre and
have worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National
Theatre and the BBC.
     The performance of "Twelfth Night" is in conjunction with a
week-long visit to Lawrence by members of ACTER -- A Center for Theatre,
Education and Research -- an educational program based in London with a
residency at the University of North Carolina.  ACTER members will spend
the week of Nov. 8-13 conducting workshops with students in a wide
variety of classes on all aspects of Shakespearean theatre. 
     Tickets for "Twelfth Night," at $10 for adults, $5 for students and
seniors, are available at the Lawrence Box Office, Brokaw Hall, 115, S.
Drew St., Appleton, 12:30-5:30 p.m., Monday-Saturday.  For more
information, call 920/832-6749.