Contents Page. About Propeller p. 3. To Teachers p. 4. Production Credits p.5. Synopsis p. 6. William Shakespeare pp. 7-8

Transcription

1 Twelfth Night Education Pack Pack written and compiled by Will Wollen Propeller Theatre Company Ltd Highfield Manor Barns Snowshill Broadway Worcs WR12 7JR Tel:

2 Contents Page About Propeller p. 3 To Teachers p. 4 Production Credits p.5 Synopsis p. 6 William Shakespeare pp. 7-8 Inspiration for the Story p. 9 Duologue Exercise p. 10 The Puritans p. 11 The Principal Characters pp Discovering a Character pp What means this lady? p. 16 I am not what I am pp Interview with Joseph Chance Actor playing Viola pp Interview with Liam O Brien Actor playing Feste pp A Rare Turkey-Cock costume design for Malvolio p. 24 2

3 About Propeller Propeller is an all-male Shakespeare company which seeks to find a more engaging way of expressing Shakespeare and to more completely explore the relationship between text and performance. Mixing a rigorous approach to the text with a modern physical aesthetic, they have been influenced by mask work, animation and classic and modern film and music from all ages. Productions are directed by Edward Hall and designed by Michael Pavelka. Lighting is designed by Ben Ormerod. Propeller has toured internationally to Australia, China, Spain, Mexico, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Cyprus, Ireland, Tokyo, Gdansk, Germany, Italy, Malta, Hong Kong and the U.S.A. As our times have changed, so our responses to Shakespeare s work have changed too and I believe we have become an ensemble in the true sense of the word: We break and reform our relationships using the spirit of the particular play we are working on. We have grown together, eaten together, argued and loved together. We have toured all Edward Hall over the world from Huddersfield to Bangladesh. We have played in National theatres, ancient amphitheatres, farmyards and globe theatres. We have been applauded, shot at and challenged by different audiences wherever we have gone. We want to rediscover Shakespeare simply by doing the plays as we believe they should be done: with great clarity, speed and full of as much imagination in the staging as possible. We don t want to make the plays accessible, as this implies that they need dumbing down in order to be understood, which they don t. We want to continue to take our work to as many different kinds of audiences as possible and so to grow as artists and people. We are hungry for more opportunity to explore the richness of Shakespeare s plays and if we keep doing this with rigour and invention, then I believe the company, and I hope our audiences too, will continue to grow. Edward Hall, Artistic Director. 3

4 To Teachers This pack has been designed to complement your class s visit to see Propeller s 2012/13 production of Twelfth Night, on national and international tour. Most of the pack is aimed at A-level and GSCE students of Drama and English Literature in the UK, but some of the sections, and suggestions for classroom activities, may be of use to teachers teaching pupils at Key Stages 2, 3 & 4, while students studying in other countries and those in higher education may find much of interest in these pages. The production is being toured alongside Propeller s production of The Taming of the Shrew; Roger Warren and Edward Hall s essay I am not what I am, exploring the relationship between the two plays, can be found on page 17. There is also a separate education pack relating to The Taming of the Shrew which can be downloaded from the Propeller website. While there are some images, the pack has been deliberately kept simple from a graphic point of view so that most pages can easily be photocopied for use in the classroom. You can also find video clips, trailers and other resources on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/propellervideo and follow the company on tour by keeping up with our blog: propeller.org.uk/blog Your feedback is most welcome. You can make any comments on our Propeller Theatre Company facebook page or by to caro.mackay@propeller.org.uk. Workshops to accompany the production are also available. I hope you find the pack useful. Will Wollen Education Consultant Propeller 4

5 Twelfth Night Production Credits DIRECTED by Edward Hall DESIGNED by Michael Pavelka LIGHTING by Ben Ormerod MUSIC by Propeller SOUND by David Gregory TEXT adapted by Edward Hall & Roger Warren ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Dugald Bruce-Lockhart Sir Toby Antonio Maria Malvolio Sir Andrew Olivia Feste Curio / Priest Viola Sebastian Orsino Sea Captain First Officer Second Officer Vince Leigh Finn Hanlon Gary Shelford Chris Myles John Dougall Ben Allen Liam O Brien Arthur Wilson Joseph Chance Dan Wheeler Christopher Heyward Benjamin O Mahony Lewis Hart Darrell Brockis Artistic Director - Edward Hall Executive Producer - Caro MacKay General Manager Nick Chesterfield Development Manager - Cathy Baker Marketing and Publicity - Clair Chamberlain & Stephen Pidcock at The Cornershop pr Propeller s Board of Trustees James Sargant (Chairman), Lydia Cassidy, Gillian Chimes, Susan Foster, Andrew Hochhauser QC, Lynne Kirwin, Jodi Myers, Peter Wilson MBE DL 5

6 Synopsis Orsino, a duke in a land called Illyria, is in love with Lady Olivia. Lady Olivia, however, is in mourning for her dead brother and refuses to consider any suitors. Off the coast of Illyria a storm has wrecked a ship and washed ashore a young woman called Viola. She had been travelling with her twin brother, Sebastian, and assumes that he has been drowned in the wreck. Viola decides to look for work and a sea captain tells her about Orsino and Lady Olivia. To gain employment with Orsino she decides to disguise herself as a man, taking on the name of Cesario. Her plan is successful and she begins work in Duke Orsino s household. Viola (disguised as Cesario) quickly becomes a favourite of Orsino, who makes Cesario his page. Matters become more confused when Viola falls in love with Orsino, who, of course believes her to be a man, and sends her to deliver his love messages to Olivia who, in turn, also falls in love with Cesario/Viola, also believing him to be a young man. Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia s household: her drunkard uncle, Sir Toby Belch and his foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek (who is also trying to court Olivia), together with Feste, the clown of the house. Sir Toby has designs on Maria, Olivia s feisty companion. Together the four of them make life hell for Malvolio, the prudish, puritanical steward of Olivia s household who disapproves of their carousing and makes every attempt to spoil their fun. Maria, with the help of Sir Toby, Feste and Sir Andrew orchestrates a trick to make Malvolio think that Olivia is in love with him. She forges a coded letter, supposedly from Olivia, telling Malvolio that if he wants to earn her favour, he should dress in yellow stockings and crossed garters, act haughtily, smile constantly, and refuse to explain himself to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter, deduces as intended that it is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying Olivia and becoming noble himself, happily follows its strange commands, making Olivia believe that he is mad. So - Viola loves Orsino; Olivia loves Cesario, and Orsino, Malvolio and Sir Andrew love Olivia Meanwhile, Sebastian, Viola s identical twin brother who is still alive, but believes his sister Viola to be dead, arrives in Illyria along with his friend, Antonio. Antonio has cared for Sebastian since the shipwreck and is passionately attached to the young man so much so that he follows him to Orsino s domain, in spite of the fact that he and Orsino are old enemies. Sir Andrew, observing Olivia s attraction to Cesario (still Viola in disguise), is goaded by Sir Toby into challenging Cesario to a duel, but Sir Andrew and Sir Toby end up coming to blows with Sebastian, thinking that he is Cesario. Olivia enters and asks Sebastian to marry her, also thinking that he is Cesario. The confused Sebastian accepts, not knowing why this wealthy beautiful woman should want to be his wife. Antonio is arrested by Orsino s officers and now begs Cesario for help, mistaking him for Sebastian. Viola denies knowing Antonio, and Antonio is dragged off, crying out that Sebastian has betrayed him. Suddenly, Viola has newfound hope that her brother may be alive. Malvolio s supposed madness has allowed the gleeful Maria, Toby, and the rest to lock Malvolio into a prison for his treatment, and they torment him at will. Feste pretends to be a priest called Sir Topas, and pretends to examine Malvolio, declaring him insane. Eventually they allow Malvolio to send a letter to Olivia, in which he asks to be released. Meanwhile Viola (still disguised as Cesario) and Orsino make their way to Olivia s house, where Olivia welcomes Cesario as her new husband, thinking him to be Sebastian, whom she has just married. Orsino is furious, but then Sebastian himself appears on the scene, and all is revealed. The siblings are joyfully reunited, and Orsino realizes that he loves Viola, now that he knows she is a woman, and asks her to marry him. Sir Toby and Maria have also married. Finally, someone remembers Malvolio and lets him out of the dark room. The trick is revealed in full, and the humiliated Malvolio storms off, leaving the happy couples to their celebration. 6

7 William Shakespeare The person we call William Shakespeare wrote some 37 plays, as well as sonnets and full-length poems; but very little is actually known about him. That there was someone called William Shakespeare is certain, and what we know about his life comes from registrar records, court records, wills, marriage certificates and his tombstone. There are also contemporary anecdotes and criticisms made by his rivals which speak of the famous playwright and suggest that he was indeed a playwright, poet and an actor. The earliest record we have of his life is of his baptism, which took place on Wednesday 26 th April Traditionally it is supposed that he was, as was common practice, baptised three days after his birth, making his birthday the 23 rd of April 1564 St George s Day. There is, however, no proof of this at all. William's father was a John Shakespeare, a local businessman who was involved in tanning and leatherwork. John also dealt in grain and sometimes was described as a glover by trade. John was also a prominent man in Stratford. By 1560, he was one of the fourteen burgesses who made up the town council. William's mother was Mary Arden who married John Shakespeare in They had eight children, of whom William was the third. It is assumed that William grew up with them in Stratford, one hundred miles from London. Very little is known about Shakespeare s education. We know that the King s New Grammar School taught boys basic reading and writing. We assume William attended this school since it existed to educate the sons of Stratford but we have no definite proof. There is also no evidence to suggest that William attended university. On 28 th November 1582 an eighteen-year-old William married the twenty-sixyear-old Anne Hathaway. Seven months later, they had their first daughter, Susanna. Anne never left Stratford, living there her entire life. Baptism records reveal that twins Hamnet and Judith were born in February Hamnet, the only son died in 1596, just eleven years old. At some point, Shakespeare joined the Burbage company in London as an actor, and was their principal writer. He wrote for them at the Theatre in Shoreditch, and by 1594 he was a sharer, or shareholder in the company. It 7

8 was through being a sharer in the profits of the company that William made his money and in 1597 he was able to purchase a large house in Stratford. The company moved to the newly-built Globe Theatre in It was for this theatre that Shakespeare wrote many of his greatest plays, including, in 1611, The Winter s Tale. In 1613, the Globe Theatre caught fire during a performance of Henry VIII, one of Shakespeare s last plays, written with John Fletcher, and William retired to Stratford where he died in 1616, on 23 rd April. Vince Leigh as Sir Toby, Gary Shelford as Maria, and Liam O Brien as Feste Photo: Maneul Harlan 8

9 Inspiration for the Story Turnover of plays was very rapid in Shakespeare s time and there was considerable pressure on playwrights to produce new entertainments for their audiences. Copyright restrictions were not what they are today and writers freely recycled characters and plots. The first recorded performance of Twelfth Night was on 2nd February 1602, but it is thought that it may have been written for an earlier occasion at the court of Elizabeth I. Different elements of the play can be traced to different influences. Twins Puritans Location Plays concerning the confusion caused by twins had been very popular in the 16th century notably Shakespeare s own Comedy of Errors and an Italian comedy called Gl Ingannati (The Deceived). It is likely that Shakespeare s most important source was a story by Barnaby Riche called Apolonius and Silla; it contains many of the elements of Twelfth Night: a shipwreck, twins, and the girl s passion for a duke. It is also worth bearing in mind that Shakespeare was writing for a particular acting company which had a pair of twins as members. Disguise and mistaken identity are regular themes in his work too, and feature in, among others, The Taming of The Shrew, Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure, and As You Like It. The character of Malvolio is described as a puritan in the play. Puritans wielded a great deal of power in the Elizabethan City of London; they hated the playhouses and regarded them as places of sin. Twelfth Night firmly lampoons the behaviour of the puritans in the figure of Malvolio, and it would have been a delight for many of the playgoers to see a puritan get his comeuppance. Many of Shakespeare s plays were set in foreign countries. This was, of course, partly to indulge in escapism for the audience, but it might also have been very prudent to set the play far away from London, given the treatment of puritans. It would have been unwise for Shakespeare to tempt censorship by making Malvolio too easily identifiable as a London puritan. Having said that, he does include a local reference in the play: In the south suburbs at the Elephant is best to lodge, says Antonio to Sebastian. In the south suburbs of London, not far from The Globe Theatre, there was indeed a pub called the Elephant. As well as being a good in-joke for his audience, it s possible that this is an early example of product placement! 9

10 Duologue Exercise OLIVIA I prithee, tell me what thou think st of me. VIOLA That you do think you are not what you are. OLIVIA If I think so, I think the same of you. VIOLA Then think you right: I am not what I am. OLIVIA I would you were as I would have you be! VIOLA Would it be better, madam, than I am? I wish it might, for now I am your fool. Ben Allen as Olivia and Joseph Chance as Viola Photo: Manuel Harlan Get into pairs and read the dialogue aloud together. Remember that at this point Olivia thinks that Viola is a boy. Then try repeating the last few words of the previous line before you say your line. For example: OLIVIA: I prithee, tell me what thou think st of me. VIOLA: Think st of you? That you do think you are not what you are. OLIVIA: Not what I am? If I think so, I think the same of you. VIOLA: You think the same of me! Then think you right: I am not what I am. This is a great exercise for listening and can really help you put energy and focus into the lines. When the scene is really focussed, go back to the original text without repetitions but try and maintain the same energy. Try the scene in different moods are they making friends? How much higher status is Olivia? How nervous is Viola/Cesario? How predatory and/or flirtatious is Olivia? 10

11 The Puritans The Puritans were a Protestant religious faction and the term puritan came into general usage at the end of the reign of Queen Mary and the start of the Elizabethan era. Puritans wanted a reformed and plain church. This strict religious view spread to encompass many social activities within England moving to a stricter code of conduct which deplored any kind of finery or flippant behaviours. The Puritans abhorred the Globe Theatre and playgoing in general. Unfortunately for William Shakespeare and his colleagues, they also wielded huge power in the City of London. The theatres were also used for bear baiting, gambling and for other immoral pursuits. They appealed to young people and many apprentices were said to have been lured to the theatres instead of working. The crowds attracted thieves, gamblers, pick-pockets, beggars, prostitutes and all kinds of rogues. Puritans were worried about the rise in crime and the bawdy nature of some of the plays, fighting, drinking not to mention the risk of the spread of Plague in large crowds. They also objected strongly to the practice of men dressing up as women. So it was particularly suitable in Twelfth Night to humiliate Malvolio, a puritan, in a play full of cross-dressing! Typically, Puritans wore dull colours and the idea of one wearing yellow cross garters would have been ridiculous In 1642 the English Parliament issued an ordinance suppressing all stage plays in the theatres. The Globe theatre fell into disuse and in 1644 the landlord demolished it to make way for more profitable housing. Chris Myles as Malvolio Photo: Manuel Harlan An extract from The School of Abuse by Stephen Gosson ( ): Playes are the inventions of the devil, the offrings of Idolatrie, the pompe of worldlinges, the blossomes of vanitie, the roote of Apostacy, the foode of iniquitie, ryot, and adulterie, detest them. Playes are masters of vice, teachers of wantonnesse, spurres to impuritie, the sonnes of idlenesse, so longe as they live in this order, loath them. 11

12 The Principal Characters Orsino Olivia Viola Orsino is in love. He says he is in love with Olivia, but he is at least as much in love with the idea of being in love. He delights in focussing upon his own emotions, preferring to send a page to Olivia than to visit her himself. He accepts extraordinarily quickly her marriage to Sebastian. As Feste puts it: Now the melancholy god protect thee; and the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal. Olivia acts very quickly and decisively when she wants something, falling in love at first sight with Viola, and securing Sebastian with deft determination. Like Orsino she can indulge in her emotions, and her self-imposed mourning for her dead brother can rapidly be dispensed with when another, more involving, emotion comes along. Despite her impulsiveness, her vanity ensures that she maintains dignity at all times. Viola is one of Shakespeare s most generous heroines, agreeing to plead to Olivia on behalf of Orsino. In Propeller s production she is played, as she would have been in Shakespeare s time, by a man, giving double entertainment in her disguise. Her disguise eventually brings as much benefit as it does confusion: Prove true, imagination, O prove true.... Malvolio Malvolio s humourlessness does not fit easily into the frivolity of Illyria, and while he is sanctimonious he shows no hypocrisy in his own behaviour and seems worthy of the trust that Olivia places in him. It is simply his powerful vanity that trips him up. If Olivia and Orsino indulge in love, then Malvolio indulges in selflove. Many people have regarded him as the central character of the play in fact, Charles I called the play Malvolio! John Dougall as Sir Andrew Aguecheek Photo: Manuel Harlan 12

13 Maria Maria is well-educated and we are told that she is attractive in both mind and body: As witty a piece of Eve s flesh as any in Illyria. She is less dignified than Olivia, though well-bred, and she is the brains behind the letter which is Malvolio s undoing. Toby Belch Sir Toby s drunkenness provides much of the contrast to the refined atmosphere surrounding Orsino and the dignity of Olivia. And in life as well as drink he doesn t know when to stop. It is Toby who demands that Malvolio should be put in a dark room and tied up, after the initial trick has worked, and it is he who persuades Sir Andrew to challenge his rival to a duel. Despite his relentless and unfeeling For discussion: Choose any two characters from the play. What are their views of love? How do they differ? Do their attitudes change? For discussion: Compare the treatment of Malvolio and Sir Andrew. They are both mocked. How does their treatment differ? abuse of Sir Andrew he manages, like the puppet Punch, to provide much of the comedy of the play. In his drunkenness he achieves moments of pithy brilliance: Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale? Sir Andrew Timid, ridiculous, imbecilic, Sir Andrew is a perfect foil for Sir Toby. He is a perpetual victim, with the occasional heartbreaking flash of self-aware lucidity: Methinks sometimes I have no more wit than a Christian or an ordinary man has, but I am a great eater of beef and I believe that does harm to my wit. Feste Like all of Shakespeare s clowns, Feste is given licence to say things that would be intolerable if said by anyone else. We don t learn much about him during the play, and perhaps he is the most philosophical character on the stage, whether singing the final song or noting how the whirligig of time brings in his revenges. Christopher Heyward as Orsino and the company Photo: Manuel Harlan 13

14 Discovering a character Many regular theatre-goers will have seen more than one, and sometimes many, different productions of Twelfth Night. Why bother? Well, when Shakespeare wrote the play, he only actually wrote the words that the characters say, and when they come on and off stage. But every time an actor plays a part he or she has to make innumerable decisions about exactly what their character is doing and why. And because every actor is different, their decisions and choices will be different, too. So we return to the theatre again and again to see new versions of the same story, filled with new interpretations and performances. The person who knows the character best is usually the actor who is playing him or her. You can discover the character through the EVIDENCE that Shakespeare gives you in the text. And... You can use your IMAGINATION to fill in the gaps. Evidence Case Study Malvolio The evidence what do we know about Malvolio? He is steward to Olivia - Maria: If my lady have not called up her steward Malvolio... Other people in the play describe him like this: sad and civil... sick of self-love... poor fool (Olivia); churlish (Viola); virtuous... a rogue (Sir Toby); a scab... rogue... brock (Sir Andrew) a kind of Puritan... a time-pleaser... an affectioned ass... the best persuaded of himself, so crammed (as he thinks) with excellencies... the trout that must be caught with tickling... it is his grounds of faith that all that look upon him love him... a gull... pedant (Maria); A rare turkey-cock (Fabian) 14

15 Character Exercise 1: Choose a character from the play. Write down everything we know about him or her. Make sure it is fact and you can back up everything with evidence from Shakespeare s text. After all, it s the only hard evidence we ve got! Character Exercise 2: Try and answer the following questions about your character (where you can t use evidence you ll need to use your imagination and make a choice): What do they want most? What do they fear most? Which other character in the play are they most comfortable with? Which other character in the play are they most attracted to? Which other character in the play do they like least? To which other characters do they feel superior? How old are they? How would they describe themselves? What are they good at? What do they like least about themselves? How would they like their lives to have changed in ten years time? Do they have any secrets? What makes them laugh? Dan Wheeler as Sebastian and Ben Allen as Olivia Photo: Manuel Harlan Character Exercise 3: Write a short biography of the life of your character before the play starts. Use what evidence you have, but you ll have to make up the rest! Character Exercise 4: In small groups ask each other lots of questions about your character. Try and be the character so ask questions Do you...? rather than Does he/she...?", and answer them in the first person. Try not to say I don t know ; if your character would know the answer then you do too just make it up! Talk about it afterwards - did you manage to stay within the world of the play? did you make any decisions that might be helpful if you were the actor playing that part? 15

16 What means this lady? Speech exercises I left no ring with her: what means this lady? Fortune forbid my outside have not charm'd her! She made good view of me; indeed, so much, That sure methought her eyes had lost her tongue, For she did speak in starts distractedly. She loves me, sure; the cunning of her passion Invites me in this churlish messenger. None of my lord's ring! why, he sent her none. I am the man: if it be so, as 'tis, Poor lady, she were better love a dream. Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness, Wherein the pregnant enemy does much. How easy is it for the proper-false In women's waxen hearts to set their forms! Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we! For such as we are made of, such we be. How will this fadge? my master loves her dearly; And I, poor monster, fond as much on him; And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me. What will become of this? As I am man, My state is desperate for my master's love; As I am woman,--now alas the day!-- What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe! O time! thou must untangle this, not I; It is too hard a knot for me to untie! VIOLA (II, ii) This speech comes from Act Two, scene two. Viola is alone on stage. 5 mins Read the speech. 5 mins In groups remind yourselves of where the speech comes in the play. Is Viola speaking to herself? The audience? Which two other people does she speak to? 10 mins In one large group read the speech in a circle, taking one line each, finding and emphasising its bouncing iambic rhythm. (If you run out of lines start again until everyone has done one.) Bounce with your knees as you do it. It should feel vigorous. Try it with everybody clapping once together between each line. Do it until the group is really good at keeping the rhythm. 5 mins Still in the circle, each person chooses what they feel is the most important word in their line. Don t spend long thinking about it go with your gut instinct! Go round the circle again, still bouncing, but this time really emphasise the important word. 5 mins Group reflection. What does using the rhythm give to the speech? Are there lines which roll more easily off the tongue than others? 10 mins Everyone finds a space in the room. At a word from the teacher everyone starts reading the speech aloud. Without shouting the louder the better! Every time the student reaches a punctuation mark they have to walk/run to another place in the room and then read the next bit up to the next punctuation mark. (Important no speaking while walking or running! Anyone caught doing this can be sent back to the beginning of the speech...) 10 mins In pairs read the speech slowly. One reading and one listening. The listener should repeat words that have anything to do with anything female or womanly. Then swap over. This time the listener can repeat words that are in any way negative (e.g. enemy, desperate, weakness). What other types of words crop up a lot? Try the exercise focusing on words like I, me, my. 10 mins Reflection. Punctuation marks are a way that writers use of dividing up thoughts. Which of Viola s thoughts are short and quick? Which are longer? What does this tell us about Viola s mental and emotional state? What might the words she uses tell us about her? 16

17 I AM NOT WHAT I AM : The Taming Of The Shrew and Twelfth Night by Edward Hall and Roger Warren Shakespeare probably wrote The Taming of the Shrew in , at the very start of his career, and Twelfth Night in 1601, when he was at the height of his powers, at roughly the same time as Hamlet; but both comedies are about love, marriage, transformation, and deceptions that reveal truth. The main action of the Shrew is in effect the dream of Christopher Sly, the drunken tinker who is persuaded that he is a lord: Or do I dream, or have I dreamed till now? I do not sleep: I see, I hear, I speak. I smell sweet savours, and I feel soft things. This interestingly anticipates the language of Sebastian in Twelfth Night when Olivia, mistaking him for his twin, declares her love for him: What relish is in this? How runs the stream? Or am I mad, or else this is a dream. Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep. If it be thus to dream, still let me sleep. But Sly s dream, as reflected in the Petruchio/Kate story, is harsher than Sebastian s romantic match with Olivia: in one way, Petruchio s career is Sly s wish-fulfilment about marriage; but in another way it is unnerving, since Petruchio is a man who marries without thinking. The Taming of the Shrew is a cruel play. Kenneth Tynan, reviewing a production at Stratford in 1960, said that he found it a more inhuman play than even Titus Andronicus, since it argues (as nobody in Titus does) that cruelty is good for the victim. Cruelty is built into the play: the abuse has to be taken seriously and even the self-abuse. For there is an ironic reversal: Petruchio comes to understand more about himself than Kate about herself. His father has died, and he aims to marry for, and into, money: I come to wive it wealthily in Padua; If wealthily, then happily in Padua. But he learns about himself during the taming process. He is vulnerable, afraid of what he might see if the looked into the mirror: I am not what I am, as Viola puts it in Twelfth Night. When he meets Kate, he falls in love with her, as his language makes clear. However mocking, his images draw on 17

18 the natural world, as Shakespeare always does when he wants to express truth of feeling: Kate like the hazel twig Is straight and slender, and as brown in hue As hazelnuts, and sweeter than the kernels. And Kate? Does she fall for him? The equality of their wit-combats suggests so in which case their marriage is a negotiated, rather than an imposed, peace. Certainly the author of A Shrew saw it like that. In lines that do not occur in the Folio text, Kate says, after their first encounter, Yet I will consent and marry him, For I methinks have lived too long a maid, And match him, too, or else his manhood s good. But if her capitulation is negotiated, why does Petruchio proceed with the shrewtaming? Perhaps it is part of his growing-up process; and her final speech reflects what a woman needs to say about her role in a particular society. And here, her father s attitude is crucial. Kate s shrewishness arises at least in part from the clear favouritism that Baptista shows towards Bianca which makes life difficult for Bianca too. If she seems a manipulative minx or Kate a shrew, then maybe their father s treatment has made them so. Shakespeare takes traditions the aggressive tamer, the tamed shrew, the commercial society with its marriages for money and exposes them for what they are. Sly s dream is a fantasy based on social truth: men discovering how they treat women. These things become more complex in Twelfth Night. In Illyria, people are one thing in public, another in private. No-one has fulfilled themselves in love: they all crave it, but no-one fully achieves it, except for the twins, whose reunion is the most beautiful thing in the play. But perhaps there s a beginning for Orsino and Olivia because of their contact with Viola. Into their claustrophobic world comes Viola, who proceeds to turn that world upside down. The two outsiders (and the central characters), Viola and Feste, hold up mirrors to the other characters. Feste knows everything, sees through everyone: he penetrates Viola s disguise, criticizes Orsino s love-melancholy, exposes the excesses of Olivia s grief; and Viola awakens, brings to the surface, the potential for emotional fulfilment in Orsino and Olivia. The gender reversals are important for this. We are more specific about gender labels than Shakespeare, or the Elizabethans in general, were. When the characters are pretending to be other than they are, they are most themselves. As Helen Gardner says of Shakespearian comedy in general, by misunderstandings men come to understand, and by lies and feignings they discover truth. 18

19 Interview with Joseph Chance Actor playing Viola This is your first show with Propeller? This is my first show with Propeller. So why did you want to work with Propeller? They re dynamic, physical, but great respecters of the text. Ed Hall [the Artistic Director] has a great reputation for working closely with text, and I do come from a kind of classical theatre background. So that was exciting, but also to marry that with a physical approach and exploring ideas of gender and sexual politics. And you re playing Viola. I m playing Violastroke-Cesario! Viola disguises herself as a boy, of course. Photo: Manuel Harlan So how do you approach playing a woman? Well, the good thing is that I have one scene as a woman where I m in a nightdress, so I m hoping the nightdress is going to do most of the acting for me! I ll have flowers in my hair too. But we re not trying to disguise the fact that we re men; we re trying to use that fact that we re men playing women. There are three of us: Maria, Olivia and Viola, all played by men. Maria and Olivia both have high heels; they both have dresses; they behave like women throughout the play. My task is interesting because I have to behave like a woman for that first scene and from that point on I m disguised as a boy/man, and only in the very last moments am I revealed to be a woman. Describe Viola at the beginning of the play. Where is she at? She s a young woman on the brink of self-discovery. She has a very close relationship with her twin, Sebastian. Their father is dead, and died when Viola was thirteen we know this from the text. We re playing her as a few years older than that, but she already understands grief and loss, and the sense of the loss of her father is there as a kind of spirit in the play, which is beautifully echoed by the fact that Olivia has lost her father and has also just lost her brother. Of course Viola in the shipwreck thinks she has lost her brother. So these two young women are coping with grief and loss in what s very much a man s world. What s happened to her by the end? Well, it s a voyage of discovery. She s very open-hearted; she says things as she sees things. She s quite vulnerable because of her youth, her honesty and her innocence. And in engaging with Illyria, the country in which she finds herself, she has to learn 19

20 to put on all these layers, all these armours. She has to pretend to be a man; she has to work out sexual politics, falling in love, falling in love with a man who loves another woman. Then that woman falls in love with her so she has then to understand what it s like to be a man in love, and yet she isn t a man in love. She goes on an absolute whirlwind tour! And this is a very violent world, a very dynamic, physical world of older men who ve been at war. There are these two very interesting characters, Sir Toby and Antonio, who have this physical aggressive quality and a sense of sorrow that she witnesses firsthand. This is all totally new to her as a courtly lady, not what she was raised to experience at all. I think that insight gives her a much deeper understanding into what it is to be a human being. And it s almost as though every step that she takes has a kind of ripple effect on other people. She is discovering, and as she discovers other people make discoveries as well. Everything starts to turn upside-down; men start to love men; women start to love women; women are dressing as men; lords start behaving like fools; fools are behaving like wise men. When did you get into acting? When I was about twelve. I got quite competitive with my brother. Funnily enough he was playing a woman in The Rivals! He was thirteen years old and very pretty and I thought this looked like a lot of fun! So we ended up doing lots of theatre together and I went to the local youth group in Norwich and started to do it in my spare time as well. Is your brother an actor now? No he s a neuroscientist! Do you have a favourite moment in the show? I do love rounding on Orsino and saying, Ay, but I know... Too well what love women to men may owe: In faith they are as true of heart as we. I love the way they re trying to have a manly chat about how women just can t love the way men do. They lack retention is what Orsino says. And here I am, in love with him, and I hear this terrible thing that he says about women and I have the youthful innocence and goodness to say No! But you don t understand! We re all the same!. I love that bit. A lot. with Christopher Heyward (Orsino) Photo: Manuel Harlan 20

21 Interview with Liam O Brien Actor playing Feste This production has amalgamated the characters of Feste and Fabian into one character is that right? That s correct. The two characters are put together. What s that meant for you? I ve had to learn more lines! Obviously in the original text the fool, Feste, disappears for a period of time while Fabian carries out the plot against Malvolio with Sir Toby and Andrew Aguecheek. I think that Roger Warren [co-adapter of the text for this production] has always felt that it didn t really make sense; it felt as if the fool is set up to be part of this. There s a line which says the fool will make a third [partner in the plot] and then he just disappears. So there was an idea to combine these characters. We certainly have enough bodies to play both characters, so it is very much a decision based on thinking that that is what his role should be. The feeling is that Shakespeare may have been writing a part for an actor in the company who needed a part, or something happened along the way. So Ed [Hall] and Roger feel very much the lines and the plot points involving the gulling of Malvolio really should be Feste and not Fabian, and that we ve restored the fool s proper role, rather than just excising Fabian. So from your point of view you ve got one name and one load of lines? Absolutely. Of course, I don t go in thinking I ve got to play two different things. For me this is just the fool s part. There s no thought that these weren t ever supposed to be his lines. He s present from the beginning in the court, he gets invited to be part of this gulling of Malvolio and he carries that through to the end, including the stuff which was always his impersonating the priest and having this torturous scene with Malvolio but also the stuff in the garden which in the original text is ascribed to this Fabian character. So, at the beginning of the play, what s his job and who is he working for? He is in the service of Olivia, the lady of the house or the estate, and he s her fool, her entertainer - or her purveyor of wisdom as often these Photo: Manuel Harlan 21

22 foolish characters are in Shakespeare s plays. He s very in much in her employment. However, he seems to go back and forth between her and the court of Orsino and entertains there too. There s this idea of him being a kind of lower status vagabond who s continually trying to money out of people throughout the play; he does it with Orsino; he does it with Viola; he does it with Olivia; he does it with everyone. He s constantly trying to make a living and he s wherever he needs to be. At the beginning of the play Olivia s asking Where s he been? and he s clearly been off entertaining at Orsino s. Trying to make a living, you know?! And where are his loyalties? Well, formally his loyalty is with Olivia, but actually his loyalty is to himself one hundred percent. He s an entertainer like any of us actors actually who work for the RSC one year, then the National or Propeller. There s no conflict of interest; you just seek out employment wherever you can get it. So I think his loyalties are to himself. But also in the show the approach has been that the whole thing begins with a song by Feste and ends with a song, and the idea is that he s kind of conjuring up this story, that the Twelfth Night play that you see is not only one in which Feste tells stories and jokes, but that the actual Twelfth Night is one of his stories. And that s the approach we ve taken, which I think people have done before, but it s certainly very clear in this production that there s something more going on with the Feste character, that he is tying the whole thing together. T s a very important character and I m very lucky to be playing him to be honest! And this is your first show with Propeller? Yes. The first time I saw Propeller was only last year when I saw Henry V in Salford, Manchester, and then I saw The Winter s Tale in Galway in the Arts Festival which is not far from where I live. So those were the first shows I saw and I was just incredibly impressed and delighted now to be working with them. Is it different working with just guys? Yeah. [pause] There s a lot more farting the room. A lot more burping, I ve found; there are a lot of belchers in this cast. It is different; we re not all looking over our shoulders, dressing well or whatever. It s being lads in a rugby team to certain extent, and I mean that in the best possible sense there s a great sense of teamwork and camaraderie that comes with not necessarily worrying about who s that pretty girl in the corner or whatever. So it s good. And I think guys work well together I m not saying that girls don t! but I certainly think that guys muck in together and get on the same level and if tempers did flare they wouldn t last for very long. You d resolve it pretty quickly. It is a different experience. You re quite heavily involved with the music in this show. How does that work? How does the company put it all together? I think you do get cast based on your ability as an actor but also on the basis of some musical talent. I don t think there s anyone in this cast who if they don t play an instrument can t sing. Everyone can sing really well in the show and everyone plays something; there s guitar players, accordion players, piano 22

23 players, flute players, clarinet players... I think that s part of the Propeller thing, that you have to bring something else to the table to get cast. What do you play? I m playing guitar and I play the Irish drum which is called the bodhrán, which nobody else is pronouncing right they re saying bodrun, barron, blah blah blah. The correct pronunciation is Bow (to rhyme with cow ) Rawn. Bow rawn. And spelt bodhrán. I want to say that because because everyone s getting it wrong! Do you have a favourite moment or favourite line? My favourite speech is speech that he has when he s been trying take money out of Orsino. He s just been singing this beautiful song, Come Away Death. It s a really poignant moment in the play, and then straightaway he s looking for money. So as ethereal and beautiful as the music is, that s always the goal. So Orsino pays him. But Feste looks for another one and another one. And then Orsino says you re not going to get any more money from me. And Feste has this lovely speech where he says, Now, the melancholy god protect thee, and let the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal. It s the most beautiful, onomatopoeic imagery and metaphor where you see this guy who s the fool, but he s also as well-spoken and eloquent as anyone else. And it just sums Orsino up, the changeable mood of the man who s so lost in his melancholic love for a woman he s hardly met. He s like a thirteen year old boy. When I was thirteen i got together and broke up with so many girls I d never talked to in my head! You d be sitting listening to music and tormenting yourself with the fact that you d never even talked to the girl, but you d imagine this whole thing. I don t think he really knows who Olivia is, he s just got this idea that he s madly in love with her. It s so teenaged and hilarious! And then he finds in a real way with someone who s been around him ironically, dressed as a guy! like most people do, with someone who actually speaks to your heart and soul. Liam in rehearsals with the company 23

24 A Rare Turkey-Cock costume design for Malvolio Below are two costume drawings by the show s designer, Michael Pavelka. Michael will create initial drawings after discussions with the director and then talks with each actor about their costume. In this case the bowler hat was added after discussions with Chris Myles, the actor playing Malvolio. Look carefully at the drawings and the designer s handwritten notes. Look too at the description of Malvolio s character in the Evidence Case Study on p.14 of this pack. Discussion points How does each element of the designer s creation help plot Malvolio s journey through the play? Why does he need two pairs of stockings? How will the costume help the actor play his part? As well as looking right all the clothes have to be practical too. With eight shows each week they are worn hard, so they either have to be durable or replacements have to be on hand. Laura Rushton and Bridget Fell, our wardrobe team, will spend much of the tour making small repairs as necessary. And with eight shows each week there s a lot of washing and drying to be done too... 24