Shakespeare is no stranger to the modern stage, particularly at theaters like Kansas University’s. The challenge comes in making an Elizabethan play relevant to a modern audience.

Director Jocelyn Buckner believes she has an answer University Theatre’s production of one of the Bard’s most beloved plays, “Twelfth Night.” She has set it in New Orleans in 1917.

The plot of “Twelfth Night” is complex. Viola (Jordan White) and her brother Sebastian (John Volk) are shipwrecked and wash ashore in New Orleans, both believing the other to have drowned. Viola disguises herself as a man and becomes servant to Count Orsino, who sends Viola to woo Olivia (DeAndrea Beatrice Herron) on Orsino’s behalf. Olivia, however, falls in love with Viola, who is actually in love with Orsino. Meanwhile, Olivia’s cousin Sir Toby Belch (Logan Walker) and his friends trick Olivia’s servant Malvolio (Garrett Kelly) into believing Olivia is in love with him. When Sebastian arrives, cases of mistaken identity lead to all sorts of trouble.

Buckner takes the re-imagining a step further. She recasts the role of Orsino as a woman. Thus, Orsino’s pursuit of Olivia is a same-sex one. At first glance, the change seems unnecessary, but it enhances the story. In Shakespeare’s original rendering, Orsino ultimately chooses to be with Viola before she is revealed as a woman. The plot remains essentially the same with Orsino choosing to love a man before she is revealed as a woman, reinforcing Shakespeare’s thesis that love is stronger than social convention. And Olivia’s rejection of Orsino (telling Viola she cannot love Orsino) takes on greater depth, because she isn’t interested in a same-sex union.

Scene designer David Platter’s set is gorgeous, composed of two large, two-story buildings. Period jazz music is woven throughout the play to complete the atmosphere.

It’s a bold vision for a well-known play, and it succeeds because of Buckner’s ability to see something new in the staging while still remaining faithful to the text. It is Shakespeare as you haven’t seen it, yet it all feels very familiar.

Additional performances are at 7:30 p.m. today and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, both at the Crafton-Preyer Theatre in KU’s Murphy Hall.