Illyria

Illyria is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Peter Mills, based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, written in 2002. Illyria is a traditional adaptation of Twelfth Night, but features a more contemporary score. Illyria began as Prospect Theater Company's musical production of Twelfth Night in Central Park in 2001. The company's artistic director Cara Reichel and resident writer Pete Mills then collaborated to create a complete musical adaptation. The musical premiered from April 12 through the 28th at the Hudson Guild Theater, New York City. Plot Act I Feste, a jester, welcomes the audience and introduces them to the world of Illyria and each character featured in the show (“Illyria”). In the midst of his introductions, an intense thunderstorm shipwrecks the twins Viola and Sebastian off of Illyria's coast. Viola is able to make it to shore, but is unable to find her brother, and assumes he is dead. She decides to take on his identity, reasoning that it would be safer to be a man in an unfamiliar place ("Sebastian").