Illyria, or What You Will

A reimagining of Shakespeare’s comedy of mixed-signal love in an underground queer club in early ’80s Manhattan, where identity, sex, and gender are what you will—and everyone finds freedom to be who they truly are.
Co-Adapted with Mitchell Hebert
Produced by Avant Bard

Who will fall in love with whom!?

ILLYRIA, OR WHAT YOU WILL is a fresh slant on a classic that shakes up Shakespeare with the driving beats and dingy glamor of the post-disco era. The play transports Twelfth Night to a queer club where love triangles lose their shape and “disguising” oneself as another gender loses its historical meaning. Illyria delights in the complexity of love, identity, and most of all the music that animates it all.

Jonelle was the co-adapter, primary scriptwriter, and dramaturg for ILLYRIA.