Shakespeare + Steampunk—Gears And Cogs Love The Bard »

The steampunk aesthetic is in full effect in this production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. But if this had been done a few years ago, before the trend, would it be nearly as interesting?

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Whenever I attend productions of Twelfth Night there are two elements that must be in place for me to really enjoy myself. Foremost is the acting, of course. This is a challenging play, and also has some moments of awkwardness and dialogue that goes THUNK. But excellent actors and good direction can smooth that over. Almost as is important is the Idea of the play, which encompasses the set and costume design, choices of time period, and the overall feeling of the production. When these two elements blend perfectly you get a great theatre experience.

There have been many great Ideas for Shakespeare plays, ranging from setting it in different time periods (Victorian England is a favorite, as is Europe during one of the world wars, as is America in the 20’s), placing it in a completely fantastical world, and creating an island in the middle of a random lake just so you can accurately recreate the world of The Tempest. Yes, I did see that once. One recent idea that caught my eye is a production of Twelfth Night with design elements inspired by steampunk. After seeing some images of the set and costumes, I knew I had to see the play. So I kidnapped Stephen Segal of Weird Tales and we set off for the theatre.

I asked Cat Parker about why she chose steampunk to be part of the Idea of the play. “I just abhor bad concept plays,” she said with a laugh. “I hate when someone takes an idea for a Shakespeare play and just crams the story inside a design. Steampunk was a style more than a concept, and it influenced the set design and the furniture and, ultimately, the machinery of the world. But it didn’t impact the story.”

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