The pomp and circumstance of Shakespeare meets the flapper fashion of the 1920s and punk band flair of ... emofi

Indeed.

Women with no-nonsense bobs and dropped-waist dresses, and men with jet black hair and skinny jeans spouting prose is what audiences might see at the Utah Valley University Theatre Department's holiday-ish rendition of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, "Twelfth Night."

The play, named after the old English holiday which celebrated the final day of merrymaking in the Twelve Days of Christmas, is often presented during the holiday season and opens tonight at UVU's Blackbox Theatre and runs through Dec. 12.

"Twelfth Night" is set in the imaginary world of Illyria, which allowed for a good deal of artistic interpretation in determining what kind of fashion Illyrians dressed in, how they sounded and wore their makeup, said John Graham, the play's director and assistant professor of theater. And Illyrians, he determined, wouldn't look anything like the typical Renaissance Elizabethans familiar to Shakespearean plays.

"As a starting point, we took the styles of the 1920s and created more high fashion out of them," Graham said of the production's unique costuming. "We used a more couture look with a little bit of emo thrown in for good measure."

"Twelfth Night," with its high-fashion flappers, is the tale of identical twins, Sebastian and Viola, who are shipwrecked then separated and believe the other to be dead. Washing up on the shores of Illyria, Viola disguises herself as a man and gains employment with the Duke Orsino, whom she falls in love with. Meanwhile, Orsino is in love with a wealthy woman in mourning, Lady Olivia, played by UVU senior Jaclyn Hales, but Olivia has fallen for Cesario -- who is really Viola dressed as a man.

"Olivia is the ultimate diva and powerhouse that controls everyone and everything around her with her status and beauty," said Hales of her love-crossed character. "She knows she's beautiful and uses it to her advantage whenever possible. When she meets a man who is actually secretly a woman who doesn't fawn all over her, she finds herself completely out of her element and confused by her lack of command over this boy."

In classic Shakespearean fashion, the story is unraveled through a maze of characters, twisting plot turns, love triangles and disguises eventually revealed.

"It's a typical Shakespeare comedy with lots of mistaken identities and a couple other subplots that go on with some servants tricking other servants and making fools of them," Graham said.

"There are some absolutely hilarious, slapstick moments in the play, but because there are also real characters who are fighting for their loves and seeing their chance for love slipping away, there's some rather heartbreaking moments as well, Graham said. "If you like Shakespeare -- if you want to see Shakespeare done to the absolute hilt with all the beauty of the language, the pomp and circumstance, and all the passion of 'Twelfth Night' -- this is it."

IF YOU GO:

Twelfth Night

Where: Utah Valley University Blackbox Theatre (Gunther Trades Building, Room 627)

When: Tonight-Dec. 12 (except Sunday) at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: $10/general admission, $6-$8/students and seniors; available at UVU Campus Connection, 863-8797

Info: www.uvsc.edu/campusconnect/events