After her professor pans her doctoral thesis on Shakespeare, a student finds herself transported into the Bard's world, where she inadvertently sends his stories in hilarious new directions - and finds her true self along the way.
That's the premise of the comedic play Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), the latest production by the departments of theatre and stagecraft at Douglas College.
The play, which runs March 9 to 17, tells the story of a Constance (Claire Pollock), a modern-day academic who finds a new awareness of herself through the dreamlike experiences of two Shakespeare plays: Othello and Romeo and Juliet.
When her professor criticizes her thesis - that the two tragedies were originally written as comedies - Constance finds herself Constance finds herself transported to the worlds of the two plays, where she interferes in the action.
This leads to unexpected results for the characters - and for herself.
The play stars Burnaby resident David Hollinshead in the roles of Romeo, Iago and Ghost.
Allan Lysell, director, said he chose the play because it has all the elements of storytelling he loves: action, great language, a happy ending and high and low comedy.
"Good comedy is lifeaffirming and laughter-making. Laughter is good for us. That includes laughter generated by slapstick, parody, satire, puns, language or jokes. Goodnight has all of this, plus sword fights and some pretty bawdy action and language," he said.
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) runs March 9 to 17 at the Studio Theatre at Douglas College, Room 4140 at 700 Royal Ave., New Westminster.
Tickets are $8 to $12 and are available at 604-521-5050. See www.douglascollege.ca.
