MOUNT VERNON — Desmond Barrit, award-winning actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, has returned to Cornell College to direct students in “Twelfth Night.”
“Twelfth Night” opens Friday, Nov. 15, at 8 p.m. at Mount Vernon High School Auditorium. Performances continue Saturday, Nov. 16, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors. Students and faculty at Mount Vernon High School can reserve one free ticket apiece. For ticket reservations, call 895-4381.
Performances are at the high school due to construction of a new theater at Cornell.
Barrit, 57, is a veteran of the stage, small screen and radio in England. His most recent role was as Falstaff in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of “Henry IV, Parts I and II,” which earned him a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award, an honor he’s won twice. He also won the Helen Hayes Award for Best Actor as the character Bottom in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a Royal Shakespeare production that toured the United States.
In 1999 he was guest director for the Cornell production of “The Comedy of Errors.” Jason Sawatzki of North Liberty has been cast in both Barrit-directed plays.
“I don’t think I’ve ever learned as much about comedy from anyone else in such a short period of time. The man is a walking vaudeville act. He has a constant torrent of ideas swirling around, and as an actor you take in as much as you can,” says Sawatzki, who plays Malvolio in “Twelfth Night.”
“It is a great honor to be able to study under one of the greatest English actors to have played the role,” Sawatzki says.
Barrit notes many in his Cornell productions have never been on stage before.
“Acting is about rehearsing, it’s about making mistakes,” he says. “It gives you confidence, and it’s really fantastic when you see people get something out of it, get a little confidence. Once you have one Shakespeare play under your belt, the rest of Shakespeare is much easier.”
Most of the students are also enrolled in “Shakespeare I: Comedies and Romances” with Kirilka “Katy” Stavreva, assistant professor of English. Running the play in conjunction with a class was the idea of the late Stephen Lacey, an English professor who brought Barrit to campus in 1999. Under Cornell’s One-Course-At-A-Time system, the class runs 3 1/2 weeks.
“One of the best things about Des’ directing style is that he manages to maintain a level of informality in rehearsal. It is not all business, although plenty of what we accomplish in rehearsals is very serious. But we always have fun,” says Amber Swenson from Brooklyn Park, Minn., who plays Feste in “Twelfth Night.” “You feel he could just get out of his director’s chair and play any role in the play, and do an amazing job. He allows each actor creative freedom, but he also molds each performance through clear-cut direction.”
Barrit’s next project is directing a “pantomime” in Cardiff, Wales, during the holidays.