In a break from theater tradition, identical twins Matteo (right) and Dominick Pangallo ’03 of Salem, Mass., shared the role of Feste (the “high priest of sanity,” according to the brothers) in director Martin Andrucki’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” at Bates. The production featured costumes by Ellen Seeling, assistant professor of theater, whose work a Portland Press Herald reviewer described as “terrific. Fun, stylish and interesting, they range in style from Cossack guard to heavy-metal band.”

The Pangallos’ antics brought down the house. “They were extraordinarily energetic and imaginative as Feste,” said Andrucki, chair of the theater department at Bates. “Having them share the role was a true asset. They really set one another off and built on each other’s contributions to the play, creating a wonderful leapfrogging process.”

During their first year at Bates, the brothers made their mark onstage and off. Both disc jockeys at WRBC, the campus radio station, and members of the Robinson Players, a Bates theater group, Matt directed a Short Term production of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” while Nick staged “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” Both brothers were elected to the Representative Assembly, Bates’ student government, and Nick dipped his toe in off-campus political waters by serving as Maine student coordinator for Republican presidential primary candidate John McCain.

With separate roommates, the twins lived in a chem-free house for first-year students. “We’ve formed a great community where we live, a core group of 29 kids we know very well,” Matt said.