A few days ago we mentioned that Island School is presenting William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on March 24, 25 & 26… but what is Twelfth Night?
There are many ancient Christian holidays that not many of us still celebrate & Twelfth Night is one of them. It is a festival to mark the coming of the Epiphany & usually celebrated on January 5th or 6th. It’s the day the nativity story tells us that the wise men visited the infant Jesus & the conclusion of the twelve days of Christmas, made famous in the carol.
We think this is a tradition that could be revived — extending the celebration of the birth of Christ to the full twelve days makes perfect sense. It is the day when the world returns to normal, but also the day when the world recognized that Mary’s babe was none other than God in his Son, both human & divine.
Shakespeare’s play calls on Twelfth Night traditions of things being turned on their ear, mistaken identities & revelations. So next time you go to the play, whether here on Kauai on locally where you reside, remember that it’s not just a comedy, it’s also a remembrance of the glorious birth of Our Lord.
