Shakespeare's *Twelfth Night* in performance

Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, full of gleeful humour and moments of melancholy sorrow. The characters are vividly drawn and the play contains some of the most beautiful verse Shakespeare ever wrote, as well as witty, robust prose exchanges. We will explore both styles and will aim to build confidence in bringing the words off the page in a series of practical workshops. We will see how the language itself helps the actor to bring the characters to life. This is a 10 session course and must be taken with W410Pm01 in week 4.

Aims

This course aims to:

• enable you to speak blank verse (the phrase simply means verse without a rhyming pattern but with a regular metre or ‘beat’)
   
• use figures of speech with awareness of how these help to suggest the character’s personality
   
• make choices based on what is there on the page, trust Shakespeare, become a detective!

Content

Shakespeare’s comedy, Twelfth Night, remains one of the most popular with the public and it’s not difficult to see why. When it was first performed, in the early sixteen hundreds by Richard Burbage and Robert Armin, both leading actors played Malvolio and Feste respectively. The play may have had one of its first performances at court to amuse the Queen and her court during the period of winter feasts.

The play is set in Illyria, ruled by Duke Orsino, who is madly in love with the Countess Olivia. She is strictly mourning for the death of her brother, vowing to remain secluded from the world for seven years. Orsino admires her and loves her all the more for this devotion. This excess of love and grief sets the tone for much of the play. Illyria seems to be a place where almost anything can happen. When Sebastian, Viola's twin brother, meets some of the inhabitants of the town he exclaims, “Are all the people Mad?” The characters are exuberantly drawn, and the wordplay is witty and raucous; the dramatic language offers so much to the actors. Some of the most heartfelt blank verse is given to Viola. 

Of course we cannot explore the whole play in ten workshops but there are key scenes and speeches which we will work on in some detail.  We will be able to ask questions about the blank verse and learn how to become more confident in speaking Shakespeare’s dramatic language with clarity and confidence. We will be looking at this play as a script intended for performance. Questions and comments will be welcome.

Presentation of the course 

We will start each class with a text based vocal and physical warm up. We will start with Orsino’s first speech at the very beginning of the play. Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Each day we will look at key moments in the play and have fun with the comic scenes as well as the more serious characters. Any musical talent would be welcome!

Course sessions

Each day we will use a bit of blank verse as a warmup. We will begin with Orsino’s opening speech.

1. Act One, Scene One.
   Duke Orsino with Curio and other lords. In Orsino’s Court. What do we learn about Orsino?
    
2. Act One, Scene Two. 
   We meet Viola in distress. What do we learn about her?
    
3. Act One, Scene Five. 
   Olivia’s household. We meet Sir Toby, Maria, Feste, the Countess Olivia and 
   her steward, Malvolio.
    
4. Act One, Scene Five continued. 
   A key scene with a lot of wordplay and changes of style. Witty prose, lyrical verse 
   and a soliloquy.
    
5. Act Two, Scene one. 
   Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother and Antonio, a sea captain and his friend and rescuer from drowning. Quite ornate, complex prose.
    
6. Act Two, Scene Two. 
   Malvolio and Viola. Another soliloquy.
    
7. Act Two, Scene Four. 
   Orsino, Viola/Cesario, Curio and Feste. Someone to sing a song as Feste would be lovely.
    
8. Act Two, Scene Five. 
   Maria, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Fabian and Malvolio. Maria’s revenge on Malvolio.
    
9. Act Three, Scene one. 
   Feste and Viola. What does this scene tell us about Feste?
    
10. Act Five, Scene one. 
    Brother and sister are reunited. Amazement all round.

Learning outcomes

You are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject and of the core issues and arguments central to the course. 

The learning outcomes for this course are:

• you will be much more familiar with Shakespeare’s dramatic language
   
• you will enjoy speaking it with more confidence and relish

Required reading

Please bring a copy of the play to every class, including the first one.

Shakespeare, William, Twelfth Night (Cambridge University Press 2004)

Typical week: Monday to Friday 

Courses run from Monday to Friday. For each week of study, you select a morning (Am) course and an afternoon (Pm) course. The maximum class size is 25 students.   

Courses are complemented by a series of daily plenary lectures, exploring new ideas in a wide range of disciplines. To add to your learning experience, we are also planning additional evening talks and events. 

Evaluation and Academic Credit  

If you are seeking to enhance your own study experience, or earn academic credit from your Cambridge Summer Programme studies at your home institution, you can submit written work for assessment for one or more of your courses.  

Essay questions are set and assessed against the University of Cambridge standard by your Course Director, a list of essay questions can be found in the Course Materials. Essays are submitted two weeks after the end of each course, so those studying for multiple weeks need to plan their time accordingly. There is an evaluation fee of £75 per essay. 

For more information about writing essays see Evaluation and Academic Credit. 

Certificate of attendance 

A certificate of attendance will be sent to you electronically after the programme.