Twelfth Night – Presented by Lethbridge Shakespeare Performance Society

Lethbridge Shakespeare Performance Society (LSPS) is a non-profit theatre group, established in 2012, bringing high-quality performances of Shakespeare’s plays to audiences in Southern Alberta. All of the actors and creative teams are local, drawn from both the ULethbridge Theatre program and from local community theatre. LSPS has been bringing Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies to Lethbridge and area for the past 13 seasons, including during the first Covid summer (with actors spaced 2 metres apart, in Nikka Yuko Garden). This year, the play is ‘Twelfth Night’, directed by Cole Fetting and Sharon Peat, with gorgeous period costumes designed by the talented Amanda Epp.

“If music be the food of love, play on”, are the words spoken by the lovesick Duke Orsino at the start of ‘Twelfth Night’. Love, in all its forms, is the main theme in Shakespeare’s well-crafted romantic comedy. Other themes – deception, disguise, fate, and social status- add to the satisfying complexity of this play, including the richly comic characters of Toby Belch, Andrew Aguecheek, and Malvolio. ‘Twelfth Night’ will open on Thursday, July 4, in Galt Gardens, the original home of Shakespeare in the Park performances. There will be a total of 16 performances in the 2024 season – in the downtown venues of the park, Casa and Festival Square, but also in Legacy Park, Nikka Yuko, the Empress Theatre, the Coutts Centre, and The Venue in High River.

Financial support comes from three main sources: grants from the Heart of our City, Lethbridge Community Foundation, and Alberta Foundation for the Arts, support from local small businesses – like the amazing community-minded Analog Books, and donations from audiences after each show. The audience donations are a vital part of funding – one-third of the total each season. LSPS is introducing a digital payment option this summer, and hope audiences will respond generously, allowing them to continue to provide honorariums to every member of their talented and hard-working cast and crew!

For information on performance dates and profiles of some of the actors and creative team, check out their Facebook page Lethbridge Shakespeare Performance Society