The Hanover High School Footlighters presented William Shakespeare's romantic comedy Twelfth Night, or What You Will, on October 23, 2025.
Director's Note:
Five years ago, we produced Twelfth Night in the midst of quarantine—it was necessarily a small, intimate affair. When the Foothilligers suggested returning to this show, it was easy to say yes, not only because now we could have a larger audience but also because the theme continues to resonate: we are still learning how to live, love, and laugh in times of chaos.
Shakespeare knew something essential about chaos—that it is not the villain of the story, but the story itself. In Illyria, a storm shipwrecks our heroes, scattering identities, disrupting order, and upending every plan. What follows is not tragedy, but transformation. Love entangles and untangles. Fools speak wisdom. The self-serious are humbled. And through it all, life insists on its own unruly joy.
At the heart of this play lives a tension we all recognize: the human desire for order set against the beautiful, maddening reality that chaos cannot be controlled. The fastidious Malvolio tries and fails. Meanwhile, Feste the fool drifts through the chaos with a song, reminding us that perhaps the answer isn’t control, but presence. Not rigidity, but resilience.
The play's final song, "The Wind and the Rain," names the true force at work in this story: the storm that comes around "every day," the chaos that reshapes our lives again and again, whether we're ready or not. We cannot stop the rain; we can only learn to live in its presence.
This production is itself a testament to embracing creative chaos. We have 24 students onstage—our largest Shakespeare cast in years—including a live band performing original music by The Lobbyists, while another 20-plus students have been hard at work behind the scenes. Our large, young company has brought enormous heart, courage, and joy to this work and I could not be more proud of them.
So welcome to Illyria. Welcome to a world where nothing goes as planned, yet somehow, miraculously, everything works out. May we all embrace life's storms with grace, humor, and perhaps a little music in our hearts.
Terry Samwick, Director
Video Produced by Rick Russell and Richard Neugass, with technical assistance from Chico Eastridge and Cedar O'Dowd.
