Get your lawn chairs, picnic baskets and bug spray ready because Shakespeare in the Park returns this weekend for the third year in a row.

“Twelfth Night” will be opening Thursday evening in Central Park and running through Sunday. First performed in 1602, “Twelfth Night” tells the story of Viola who believes she lost her twin brother Sebastian in a shipwreck at the beginning of the story. Viola disguises herself as a young man called Cesario and goes to work for Duke Orsino whom she ends up falling for. Orsino is in love with the wealthy countess Olivia, who ends up falling for Cesario believing him to be a man. The misunderstandings only get more complicated when Sebastian shows up and looks uncannily like Cesario.

I went to a dress rehearsal performance on Tuesday evening, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I actually read “Twelfth Night” in a Shakespeare class I took in college, so the story was somewhat familiar. With that being said, it might not hurt to read over a brief synopsis of the play before going to see a performance. Not that the cast doesn’t do a great job of telling the story, but the Shakespearean language can be a bit difficult to understand at times. I think knowing a bit of the story beforehand can only increase your enjoyment of the show with the only downside being you might have some plot elements of the 400-year-old play spoiled.

Speaking of the cast, my standout performance has to go to Trey Schofner as Malvolio. Malvolio is one of Olivia’s servants, and he has a major crush on her. At one point in the story, a group of characters pen a fake letter in Olivia’s handwriting that Malvolio finds. The letter includes all sorts of things Olivia finds attractive (which are actually things the real Olivia finds revolting). One of these is yellow stockings worn with cross-garters.

Malvolio shows up in his yellow stockings with cross-garters much to Olivia’s horror. Schofner does a fantastic job of preening, posing and showing off his legs. He really sells trying to look sexy while only looking ridiculous. Perfect for the role! This scene got the most laughs out of me in the entire play.

“Twelfth Night” will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Central Park. Any cancellation or change of venue that may come about because of weather will be announced on the Facebook page “Shakespeare in the Park – Ardmore, Oklahoma.”

All performances are free, though donations are greatly appreciated and will be used to keep Shakespeare in the Park coming back every summer.

I also want to stress I was not kidding about the bug spray in the first sentence. I sprayed myself down before going, and that worked great until around dusk. You’ll want to have some on hand to reapply right around the time the sun sets!