William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” is the epitome of genre-bending, delivering high-paced comedy alongside confused romance, action-filled conflict and the mystery of concealed identities. Dooley’s Players brought this chaotic play to life with Madison Borman (21Ox, 23C) as director. “Twelfth Night” debuted on the weekend of April 6 and ran again the weekend of April 13 at the Campus Life Pavilion.
“Twelfth Night” unravels the story of the twins Viola (Erin Devine, 25C) and Sebastian (Alex Valdivia, 25C), who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola disguises herself as a man and becomes a servant to Duke Orsino (Ammar Ul Haq, 25C), to whom she becomes romantically attached. However, Orsino loves Olivia (Olivia Willingham, 23C), so he sends the disguised Viola to persuade Olivia to marry him. Instead, Olivia falls in love with Viola’s disguise, creating a bizarre love triangle. Sebastian then arrives at Olivia’s house with his friend Antonio (Zeke Rezzarday, 24C), further complicating the narrative, as Olivia quickly mistakes Sebastian for Viola’s disguise. Meanwhile, Olivia’s uncle Toby (Dean Criser, 23C) and his friends Andrew (Sofia Freedman, 25C), Fabian (Ruby Stillman, 24C) and Feste (Julia Green, 25C) plot revenge against Olivia’s pompous steward Malvolio (Alex Banul, 23C) with the assistance of Olivia’s servant Maria (Anna Little, 25C).
Courtesy of Erin Laurens
Few people are likely to pursue Shakespeare’s work outside of an academic setting. Even among English majors, few have direct experience with Shakespeare, since only eight percent of top universities require their English majors to study Shakespeare. Consequently, it is not surprising that Shakespeare’s language is often considered inaccessible to the average audience. Further, the plot of “Twelfth Night” is intricate, as every character’s action has a pervasive domino effect. Despite these obstacles, Dooley’s Players successfully navigated the play’s complexities, signaling the central traits of characters and how their actions affected the plot.
In this production, Olivia wore a radiantly sparkly necklace and matching earrings, hinting at the haughtiness of her personality. Malvolio’s costume also accentuated his disapproving nature; he flourished his dark cape irately whenever the drunken Andrew and Toby entered the scene.
The characters’ physicality further cued to the audience their central traits. Toby entered with boundless energy, bouncing from foot to foot, giving off an air of mischief. In contrast, Maria was reserved in her movements at the start of the play, standing with her hands clasped. As she enacted more of her revenge plan for Malvolio, her body language became more expressive, allowing the audience to understand that she was gaining confidence in herself.
Courtesy of Erin Laurens
The actors in the production also brought modern nuance to the play through their interpretations of their characters. When Orsino argued a woman’s love could not be meaningful like a man’s love, Viola turned away from the duke and mouthed a disgusted “Oh my God” to the audience. An actor’s choices with their character, such as Viola’s revulsion to Orsino’s sexism, can alter the subtext for the audience when faced with the possibly problematic aspects of Shakespeare. Since Viola was in love with Orsino, Devine could have played Viola’s reaction as more subservient but chose not to, allowing the audience to somewhat reconcile the tension between the script’s contents and the possibility of an ethical modern performance.
Furthermore, the emphasis of words helped the audience understand where their attention should be. For instance, when Toby, Fabian, Andrew and Maria were plotting against Malvolio, the actors always ensured that they slowed down the phrase “yellow stockings.” This emphasis was crucial because Maria forged a letter that convinced Malvolio that Olivia was in love with him and instructed him to wear yellow stockings, which Maria knew Olivia hated.
Banul’s portrayal of Malvolio was convincing when he read that letter. He gloated at the prospect of ruling over Toby — since if he married Olivia he would be of higher status than Toby — and Malvolio played out his fantasies physically, by lounging on a garden bench like it was a throne and holding out a hand to be kissed. This buildup led the audience to highly anticipate Malvolio’s humiliation: They chuckled immediately when Malvolio swaggered in wearing the yellow stockings; an uproar of laughter followed as Malvolio thrusted his stockinged foot right onto the table to display for Olivia.
Viola’s struggles with concealing her identity were also entertaining. There was a moment when her disguise was almost revealed because Andrew challenged her to a duel. As Viola braced herself for the duel, the weight of a practice swipe of her sword nearly took her out. Then, she held the sword by the cross-guard rather than by the handle, looking equally perplexed and terrified. Clever choices like these further immersed the audience in the comedic absurdity of the play.
The diligence of the “Twelfth Night” cast and their director was apparent in every aspect of the production. Reimagining a classic play for a modern audience, they crafted a performance which viewers could easily understand and enjoy.
