Masset’s community Christmas concert knocked everyone’s yellow socks off last Friday night.
The Twelfth Night of Christmas opened with an adapted Shakespeare comedy complete with shipwrecked twins, a sword fight, and the love-letter and yellow-garter gambits of Sir Toby Belch and friends.
Co-directed by Jenny Nelson, David McLean, Linda Costain, and Miriam Rioux, the play featured a cast of 21 illustrious Illyrians, with Haana Edenshaw starring in the doubled role of Viola/Cesario, Clarke Simonsen as the Duke Orsino, Aaliyah Arens as the lady Olivia, and Sita Sly-Hooton as the nearly lost twin Sebastian.
Leading the laughs were Nano White as Sir Toby Belch, Ben Simonsen as the knock-kneed Sir Andrew, Lumina Camire as the yellow-gartered Malvolio, and Marissa Abrahams as Maria, their partner in crime.
Besides some Christmas-spiced Shakespeare, the night feature many other acts, including the magical Atticus Burton-Adams as Harry Potter, the Wild Horses Ukulele duo of Sophia Maria Pages and Layla Huckleberry Reynolds, the ReDiscovery Alumni singers, and the fine-stepping Haida Gwaii Spirits Dancers. Emceeing it all was Mistress of Ceremonies Erin Reid.
Long-time fans of the Masset Community Christmas Concert may have noticed the evening had a distinctly clearer sound, thanks to new speakers and echo baffles that the Village of Masset installed earlier this year at the Howard Phillips Community Hall. The new sound rounded out another renovation — new doors and overhead lighting for the hall’s main entrance.
Opening the night were three Christmas Riddlers —Wiijaa Edenshaw, Oscar Reynolds, and Desmond McLean — who started by asking the curous question, “Where does a snow man keep his money?”
Answer: “A snow bank!”
(Photos by Andrew Hudson/Haida Gwaii Observer)