When it was time to cast for Southern Arkansas University Theatre Department’s performance of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” Director Clayton Guiltner found a perfect match for the lead character, Feste. He also didn’t have to look far for a qualified prop designer.
River DeCanter, a freshman from Van Buren, had just the right talent, vocal quality and physical build for the part.
“River has a lot of talents. He plays the guitar. He sings. He brought a real unique quality to this role,” said Guiltner. To top that off, the fact that DeCanter landed a lead role in his freshman year is something virtually unheard of in university level drama programs, and he isn’t alone. The small cast is largely numbered by talented freshmen – An opportunity that wouldn’t exist in larger schools.
“For that many freshmen to be cast is unique,” said Guiltner. “It speaks highly of their talent. Our program at SAU is fortunate to have so many students who come here from really strong high school programs.”
As ridiculous as it sounds, DeCanter said he grew up wanting to be a tugboat captain, with an interest in environmental studies.
“In high school, I tried drama and it was nice. I thought, ‘let’s just do this instead,” he said, with a smile.
Stepping onto the stage, DeCanter is transported.
“Something just clicks,” he said. “I don’t have to be myself for a while. I’m in another world and I like that.”
In the script for Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” Feste is identified as a “clown.” DeCanter, who invests a lot of time researching his roles, learned that the Shakespearean-age fool characters really weren’t clowns. They would have been more like today’s popular entertainment a music artist with a comedic twist. Feste’s musical instrument is the guitar.
“Feste is really laid back, but smart, mischievous and conniving,” said DeCanter. “He is fun. Feste is one of my favorite roles so far.”
DeCanter is at home on the stage – In this case, a stage built by a talented stage crew and an artistic sophomore from Conway, Abbie Taylor.
Growing up, Taylor imagined being “something boring” like a doctor or a lawyer. She was also fascinated with archeology for the thrill of the discovery. With an innate love of drawing, Taylor figures that came through her genes, since creativity runs rampant in her family. Her mother and aunts are artists and other family members are singers. It was bound to rub off on Taylor.
“Being around so much talent cultivated my creativity,” said the theater and psychology double-major.
Since her first play in kindergarten – a performance of the children’s standard “Stone Soup,” Taylor has acted in plays. She said she enjoys the process, but for her, the magic behind the scenes is where her passion is.
“I like the backstage stuff. I like set design. I like starting out with nothing and watching it go from an idea to a design,” she said. “All of sudden, you’ve got this whole new world built up that didn’t exist before.”
Since discovering set design in high school, her interest has continually grown. Speaking of her first experience in a high school production of “Peter Pan,” Taylor was impressed by the ingenuity of the stage design.
“The stage was a ship, where you could see all of the different levels and different pieces were brought in and it merged together into one giant world,” she said.
Initially, her interest in music brought her to SAU to check out the music department.
“I hear a lot of good things about the music department,” said Taylor. “I knew I wanted a smaller school with a smaller campus. I came to visit and loved the campus. I got to see a performance of “Lend Me A Tenor,” a play put on by the SAU Theater Department.
“I was really impressed by [SAU] being a smaller university, but having that caliber of performance. It was very well done and I fell in love with the show, which made me fall in love with the theater here,” said Taylor.
SAU was an easy choice also an easy choice for DeCanter.
“I was comfortable here. It was far enough away from home, but not too far,” he said. “It felt like home and the scholarships were nice.”
One of the important props of “Twelfth Night” is Feste’s guitar. Taylor drew inspiration for the design of the guitar from DeCanter’s character.
“You’ve got this character – a clown. He’s supposed to be the ‘fool,’ but if you listen, he’s one of the more intelligent characters who had much to say,” she said. “Because the guitar is the tool of his trade, it would have been worn out, distressed – with a lot of character.”
“Twelfth Night” is not your typical Shakespeare drama, according to Taylor.
“It’s not a droning historical play. There is always something going on. ‘Twelfth Night’ is one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies. It’s absurd, ridiculous, over the top characters and love triangles. It’s just fun,” she said.
According to Guiltner, the theme of the play is universal.
“It’s a comedy about mistaken identity,” he said. “Even though it was written in the 1600s, it’s not out of touch with people today. If you haven’t experienced the SAU Theater Department, this is a good place to start.”
“Twelfth Night” opens Tuesday, Oct. 9 and runs through Thursday, Oct. 11. Doors open each night of the performance at 6:30 p.m. Play starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $3 for students, faculty and staff or $5 for general admission. Harton Theatre seats about 450.
