Eric Elefson wears a lot of hats. I mean A LOT of hats. But the producer, director, fight choreographer, stage manager, lighting designer, teacher, voice actor, farmer, and yurt host feels most at home as a performer.
“I would say probably where I feel the most confident is performing,” he said. “I love acting, especially on a stage. That is my happy place for sure. Just getting to kind of bring one character to life is kind of my jam.”
Elefson has been part of more than 70 productions across Minnesota. In Duluth, he has recently served as a fight director for several plays, working with actors on the choreography and safety of staged combat. But this summer, he is turning his attention closer to home. At the end of August, he plans to bring a play to the town he has lived in for the past eight years.
And not just any play but Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s mischievous comedy about mistaken identities, love triangles, and the chaos that follows when people wash ashore in a strange place. Elefson chose it with purpose.
A passion for engaging intergenerational audiences is at the heart of this project, and Twelfth Night offers humor that lands with both seasoned Shakespeare fans and newcomers. The play even begins with a shipwreck, a detail that feels fitting for a Shakespeare on the Shore performance.
“Twelfth Night is one of my all-time favorite comedies of Shakespeare,” said Elefson. “People can have different opinions about Shakespeare. They can think his language is boring or that it’s just kind of academic and lofty. Twelfth Night is one of those examples that really is funny. There’s practical jokes, and there’s funny language throughout, and it’s relatable.”
The first Shakespeare on the Shore is, in Elefson’s words, “very much an experiment,” a chance to see what catches the attention of Two Harbors audiences and how the community responds to live theater. The cast will rehearse for only three days, following a model inspired by 24-hour Shakespeare projects that prize spontaneity over polish.
The idea is to keep the performances more fresh and honest. By limiting rehearsal time, the cast sidesteps the predictable grooves that come with long preparation and leans into the immediacy of choices made in the moment.
“Not to overwork it,” he said. “To bring those real reactions and emotions to the forefront.”
He sees spontaneity as a way to spark stage relationships that feel vivid, immediate, and a little unexpected.
The cast is made up of Duluth-based performers, many of them familiar faces from past projects. Support from a Minnesota State Arts Board grant allows Elefson to pay the actors, something he says makes a real difference when recruiting talent.
A wide mix of experience shapes the ensemble, with performers who have taken on Shakespeare across regional stages working alongside artists rooted in physical theater, comedy, and new-work development. Some have appeared in recent Duluth Playhouse and Zeitgeist productions, and others come from university programs or independent projects. Elefson said that blend of styles brings a playful energy to this Twelfth Night, one he hopes will resonate on the brewery patio.
“I’m so lucky to have the cast that I do,” he said, adding that in the future he hopes to involve more Two Harbors residents and build a local network of performers. “I do hope to keep doing this because I’m super passionate about fostering the community that I’m in. I hope to kind of start this relationship with my community that I live in. Sometimes they don’t know what they like. Sometimes you kind of gotta build it before they come.”
Castle Danger Brewery sets the scene, a place Elefson calls visually perfect for a lakeside Shakespeare production. The ore docks stand behind the patio and the lake reaches out beyond them, offering a backdrop no built stage could replicate. The performance will mingle with the easy rhythm of the brewery’s outdoor space, with people coming and going, conversations drifting, and the summer air carrying the sound of the actors.
“It’s not ticketed,” he said. “It’s just going to be happening while people are there and enjoying things. It’ll be a lot more lively and engaging and loud and possibly distracting. In some senses, that’s kind of how it was back in Shakespeare’s day.”
For those on the fence about attending, Elefson hopes curiosity wins out.
“It’s a unique experience,” he said. “It’s going to expose you to something you may not have seen otherwise. You’re going to get great laughs from it. It’s going to be funny. It’s going to be fun. I think everyone would enjoy it. I think there’s a little bit of something for everyone.”
After the show, audience members will be able to fill out a survey, and Elefson plans to add a contact form to the Shakespeare on the Shore website (shakespeareontheshore.weebly.com) for anyone interested in getting involved or offering feedback.
Twelfth Night will be performed on Saturday, August 29 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, August 30 at 2 p.m. on Castle Danger Brewery’s outdoor stage. The Sunday performance includes ASL interpretation.
As the actors take their final bows, Elefson hopes the event carries the same gentle optimism that threads through the play. “Journeys end in lovers meeting,” the line goes, and while this journey is just beginning, he hopes it leads to many more performances on our North Shore.
