Merriment abounded at a medieval banquet Thursday, Jan. 19, at Boothbay Region High School, when Mary Miller’s performing arts class provided a comedic twist to William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” The cast also doubled as waiters/waitresses, serving sumptuous plates filled with veggies, fries and spicy chicken tenders to an audience largely made up of friends and family.

Lemonade was the featured drink, and the dessert plates were filled with brownies and ice cream.

Each actor took full measure of the witty double entendre and (really) bad puns served up in the script. The cast was hilarious and handled the script pretty well. They dressed in fool’s motley which, in the case of Sir Toby Belch, came fitted with a rather large posterior prosthetic. 

The event was the 11 students’ final examination for the class. “Some have acted before, some have not. The class is one semester and the students do two to three performances,” said Miller, BRHS’s drama and music teacher. They decided to hold the medieval dinner because the script was fun, Miller explained. “We incorporated a bit of the medieval dinner festivities. We thought it would be something different to do.”

Students include Brogan Barter, Zachary Blackman, Shane Bowling, Colin Campbell, Madison Gaudette, Grant Giles, Cassidy Hicks, Jacklyn McLoon, Sierra Murray, Bryan Otero and Teddie Peterson. 

“They will be graded on how well they learned their lines, on their projection and expression, and their performance and their preparation,” said Miller.

Judging by the quality of the night’s revelries, the whole cast and its teacher should take a bow.