The Twelfth Night
Title: The Twelfth Night
Author: William Shakespeare
Date: 4/3/19
Location: Yale Repertory Theater
Director: Carl Cofield
Major Actors: Abubakr Ali (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Erron Crawford (Feste), William DeMerrit (Orsino), Allen Gilmore (Malvolio), Tiffany Denise Hobbs (Olivia), Moses Ingram (Viola), Manu Kumasi (Antonio), Chivs Micheal (Sir Toby), Ilia Isorelys Paulino (Maria), Jakeen Dante Powell (Sebastian).
Orsino of Illyria is in love with Olivia but she refuses to court him, Viola enters on the shores after her ship with her brother wrecked. She was saved by the captain but is told her brother did not make it, Viola disguises herself as a boy (Cesario) and enters Orsino's household as a servant. Cesario is told to go and get the attention of Olivia onto Orsino but Viola is already falling in love with Orsino. Cesario goes anyway and Oliva falls in love with him, she continues to reject Orsino's approach but tells Cesario to return "With how he takes the news". Orsino tells Cesario to go back and get Olivia agreement to fate Orsino, but when Cesario returns to Olivia, she confesses her love for Cesario.
Viola's twin brother (Sebastian) is alive and was brought in by a man named Antonio a captain who is enemies with Orsino. Sebastian goes around town to explore and Antonio gives Sebastian his purse for safekeeping and stays in the hotel that the two were in. Olivia is currently living with her uncle Sir Toby who is also encouraging Sir Andrew his drinking companion and funding to get Olivia's love. One night the two (Sir Toby and Sir Andrew) begin to fight with Malvolio and team up with Olivia's maid Maria to trick him. Maria forges a letter confessing love for Malvolio from Olivia, the letter asks Malvolio to act strangely and wear different clothing. when Malvolio approaches Olivia she thinks he's mad and Sir Toby arranges for him to be confined to a dark room alone. Feste (the fool) disguises himself as a priest and him and the three taunt Malvolio. Malvolio writes a letter of complaint to Olvia. Andrew leaves the house thinking Cesario is going to agree to Olvias love and Sir Toby convinces him to stay and challenge Cesario to a duel, he then tells Andrew and Cesario seperatelythat the other is a skilled fighter. Antonio arrives and fights to defend Ceasario but is arrested and he asks for his purse from Cesario (thinking it is Sebastian) and Cesario says that he does not know Antonio. Feste has to go get Cesario but bring Sebastian by accident instead, Andrew and Sebastian fight Olviai stops them and Sebastian "falls in love" with her. They go off to be married because Olivia thinks Sebastian is Cesario. Antion is brought to Orsino and says that he knows Cesario and Orsino thinks he is crazy Olivia arrives saying Ceasario is going to be married ot her. when Cesario denies it Olivia brings a priest to confirm it. Orsion is enraged Toby and Andrew come to blame Cesario for their injuries from Sebastian. Sebastian arrives and the twins meet. Veolia reveals herself, Malvolio gets released from his cells, Fabian reveals the trick. The all leave to be married Sebastian to Olivia and Orsino to Viola.
The set was decently minimal using mainly wooded props that were generic. They used projections which was very modern and popular in the beginning to show a simulation that the character was going through I thought this gave a really interesting feel to the play and started the show off with a boom. I think that this added an element to the llay that it lacked a little bit for me and that was the futuristic effect. Most of the play just felt modern but the projections added a futuristic effect I wish they had done more of this in the show to keep that feeling throughout. However, they change the color of the backdrop often enough to let the audience know that there was a difference int eh setting. The props that they used were also very minimalist and were taken on and off by the actors that were in the ensemble. Interestingly the back of the stage had raisers to give some height which allowed for better blocking, It made the stage look more dynamic by providing levels for the actors is also provided an area for actors to hide during scenes that they were supposed to be spying, so it made it clear that they were fully covered well. I also thought that it was interesting that they used very minimal props, I am not sure if that is due to the popularity of minimalism and using things for multiple purposes or it was because the set was meant to be very universal. IT was interesting to see how the sound was done because the actors didn't seem to have microphones on, they could have just been hidden, but I think Feste was the only one who had one and that was because of the layering that they put on his voice. I think that this was an interesting choice to have the fools voice be put under a filter when he was singing, I think that it went well with the afro-futuristic theme that they had going on and that it blended really well. For Feste they gave him a very cyborg outfit and hair, I think that they could have done a little bit more and maybe had a little bit of filtration of his general speaking voice as well as the singing but I think that they might have made a good choice in not doing that as ti could get a bit annoying. I felt that Sir Toby and Sir Andrew were actually highlighted a lot more than that set “leads” I felt like because they had cut sections of the play out and they did this more with the main character scenes that there was still a lot of those comedic relief scenes so those characters become more prominent in the show that many of the leads. I really liked this especially for the crowds that were there when we were, which was comprised mainly of students. These comedic elements took the strain away from the difficult language and gave you time to interpret what some of the more complicated scenes were telling you. I also think that it is important to note that there were colors that were associated with characters and families. This is a really popular Shakespearian element that I see, Olivia was seen in cool tones which were mainly blues and cool blacks, while Orsino was in warm tones of orange and yellow. What is interesting about that is that Cesario has a mix of warm yellow and orange and cool blues. Cesario is also seen in white which is a color that resembles innocence but I personally didn’t understand that element. I think that a connection for that may be from the fact that Cesario was actually VIola or that she was in love with Orsino. I still am not sure where the theme of innocence comes in through that. I do feel that the only point for it is that Cesario was unaware that Olivia was pinning for him.
The actor that I thought was the best would have to be Sir Toby. I thought that his delivery as a drunk man was hilarious and very well done. He was realistic in his approach while being attentive to the audience. I felt that there was a lot of improvisation to his part because he had to tune into what the audience enjoyed while keeping tot he script and rehearsal ideas that he had. I also felt that there wasn’t an element of his character being “overdone” while the movements were large and drawn out I felt that it was very necessary so that the whole theater could see his movements and feel their effect but he balanced it out with a calmness to avoid bouncing off the walls. He was also my favorite because his character has such a diverse range of emotions and reactions. I think that his character was very technically challenging to show such a range of emotions, to be able to carry the comedic lines and use his body to make jokes, such as the jumping on the table and dancing around, but also having a more serious plotting side like during the fights to be able to have serious lines and conversations and then fill the background. I also liked how his character has the emotions exhibited around the fight sequence where Toby had to project his cries when he was hit and to propel the movements of that scene and draw attention downstage when the fight was going on upstage this really allowed the space to feel filled and I thought he did a really good job. I also thought that he was really good to be able to keep his lines going when there were jokes and not stop to laugh during a scene when the audience made noises for him.
While I enjoyed the majority of the play I felt that it was a little bit confusing because of the number of scenes that they cut, I think that they shouldn’t have cut the end so much because it felt very rushed and I was very confused. I think that there could have been more of a drawn out ending, I think that this would have made some more sense to the audience who hasn't read the book. I did like that they provided us with a guide in the pamphlet so that we about get some understanding. I think that the play was done very well and it seemed like a good source for smaller theaters on what could be done with a small set. I think that it also that it was great of Shakespeare and it was very well done coming off of a major film like Black Panther, I think that it was a great inspiration to all people of what can be done with an old play. I also liked the mix between students and graduated actors to make sure that there was a gradient of talents, while they all were very good at their jobs I think that it demonstrates where some of the actors have been and where the can do while also giving an opportunity to younger actors.
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