Twelfth Night: or What You Will
by William Shakespeare

Directed by Lisa Warrington
Allen Hall Theatre, Dunedin, 21 May - 1 June 1997

"Youth's a stuff will not endure".

Twelfth Night II.iii


Sir Toby Belch (Ronn Kjestrupp) and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Richard Huber), a little the worse for wear after their night of drunken revelry, face the day in order to see Malvolio get his come-uppance in the "letter scene". (Allen Hall Theatre)

Setting

We chose a non-specific setting, on a bare, open stage surrounded on three sides by the audience, much as Shakespeare's audience might have experienced the play. The closeness of the audience provides an energy for the actors, and a chance to interact with audience members. Shakespeare's soliloquies seem to work best when they are directly addressed to and shared with the audience, rather than becoming internalised monologues (the legacy of Stanislavski).

Costume

The actors wore a range of costumes designed to illustrate some aspect of their character, with no regard to period or style. Sir Toby and Sir Andrew were played as aging hippies, who haven't yet come to terms with the fact that they are no longer young men. Their behaviour - drunkenness, stupid, childish pranks - and their general irresponsibility, reflect this. They smoke dope and drink to excess.

Malvolio in my production was played in relatively traditional style. It is necessary that he be repressed, wear dark and conservative clothes, and have a certain innate sense of dignity and self-worth, so that he can make a journey of humilation duringthe course of the play. Originally, he no doubt served to mock the Puritan kill-joys, out to close the theatres of Shakespeare's day, whom so many playwrights of the day use as whipping boys. Many modern productions dress him as a stiff, prim butler, or as a puritan, and then get comedy from the contrast of his public and private selves. Donald Sinden, for example, bursts in on Toby and Andrew's drunken orgy wearing his hat and chain of office, but with his knobbly knees poking from beneath his nightgown. Nigel Hawthorne, in the Trevor Nunn film (1996), relaxes in private, and it is clear that he is wearing a wig.

One of the central jokes in Twelfth Night is the scene in which Malvolio bursts upon an unsuspecting Olivia and the audience wearing yellow stockings cross gartered, and smiling fit to burst as he makes clumsy advances on her. He thinks, of course, that this is at her behest, when in fact it is the behaviour most calculated to repel her.

OLIVIA: Smil'st thou?
I sent for thee upon a sad occasion.

MALVOLIO: Sad, lady? I could be sad. This does cause some obstruction in the blood, this cross-gartering.

My Malvolio, who had been hitherto neatly dressed in a black frock coat and trousers, revealed himself to a delighted audience in skin tight shiny yellow lycra tights, worn with an over-the -top multi-coloured jacket covered with classic adverts for Australian products like Arnott's Biscuits, Vegemite and Aeroplane Jelly.

Sir Andrew (Richard E. Grant) Fabian and Sir Toby (Mel Smith) anxiously watch to see if Malvolio swallows the bait in Trevor Nunn's film of Twelfth Night.

Trevor Nunn's 1996 film version chose a late19th century setting. Toby and Andrew were played with a degree of restraint, though of course they retained that aura of irresponsibility. Richard E. Grant used his lugubrious looks and lanky frame to good effect, encased in plus fours that achieved a country look which was somehow out of place (he looked as though he had bought the clothes brand new to "fit in") and almost childish.

Return home

1