Properties Design by Laura Merrill

Los Altos Stage Company (Los Altos, CA) May 2025

Written by William Shakespeare

Musical Adaptation by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub

Directed by Sara Dean

Twelfth Night is a rousing contemporary musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy about mistaken identity and self-discovery. On the twelfth day of Christmas, shipwrecked Viola washes up on the shores of Illyria, disguises herself as a man, is sent to court a countess and falls hard for a Duke. As she navigates the gender confusion in all her roles, she finds her true self and true love in the process. Featuring an original jazz-funk score by Shaina Taub, Twelfth Night is a soulful shake-up of a Shakespearean classic.

The properties for this show were designed to connect the characters to the overall 70s Vouge style seen throughout the play.

Some notable pieces created for this production include:

• 3 sets of 3 magazine covers that represent the towns current gossip.

  I made them 17” x 11” from old hard plastic show boards. The graphic design was modeled after the Vouge and Time magazines of the 70’s.

• To bring the fight between Viola and Sir Andrew to life I used several yards of chunky elastic yarn attached to 3 large red spools to simulate a boxing ring. It was held up by 3 of the ensemble while they cheered them on.