Staging (Twelfth Night)

Twelfth Night is one of William Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, filled with mistaken identities, cross-dressing, romantic entanglements, and witty dialogue. Staging this play offers the opportunity to explore a wide range of emotions, physical comedy, and farcical situations, all while handling deeper themes of love, identity, and social norms. This guide will help you understand how to stage Twelfth Night effectively, whether you're working on a practical exam piece or analysing the play in the classroom.

Understanding the Themes and Tone

Before staging Twelfth Night, it is essential to grasp the main themes and the overall tone of the play. These themes will influence the style and approach of your performance.

• Love and Desire: At the heart of Twelfth Night is the theme of love, with different characters expressing their affections in various ways. The play explores the confusion and folly of love, often with comic results. When staging these moments, physical gestures, body language, and facial expressions are key to conveying the intensity, confusion, and humour in the love dynamics.
• Mistaken Identity: One of the main comedic devices in Twelfth Night is the use of disguise and mistaken identity. Viola, disguised as Cesario, causes confusion in her relationships with Orsino, Olivia, and others. This theme of deception should be reflected in the staging through costume, blocking, and the physical performance of characters who are unaware of each other’s true identities.
• Folly and Foolishness: Characters like Malvolio, Feste, and Sir Toby Belch bring elements of foolishness, wit, and trickery into the play. The foolery is often exaggerated for comedic effect, but it also has a more profound commentary on human nature and society. The actors playing these roles should embrace the physicality of the comedy, using exaggerated movements, facial expressions, and timing to bring out the humour.
• Disguises and Gender Roles: The theme of gender roles and identity is central to the plot, with Viola dressing as Cesario and navigating a world of male-dominated relationships. This theme can be explored in your staging through subtle but effective changes in posture, movement, and interaction between the characters, especially during moments when Viola is disguised.

Characterisation and Relationships

The characters in Twelfth Night are colourful, complex, and often larger-than-life. Each character brings a unique physicality to the play that should be considered when staging.

• Viola/Cesario: Viola is one of Shakespeare’s most complex heroines. While she disguises herself as Cesario, she is also in love with Orsino. Her physicality should reflect both her feminine grace as Viola and her masculinity as Cesario. When playing Viola, her movements might be more elegant and reserved, but as Cesario, she should adopt a more grounded, assertive posture. When interacting with Orsino, the physical tension between Viola’s true identity and her disguise can be highlighted by the careful use of eye contact and positioning.
• Orsino: Orsino is passionate but also self-absorbed. He spends much of the play pining for Olivia, and his love is idealised and exaggerated. His posture and gestures should be large and expressive, emphasising his dramatic nature. When in the presence of Viola/Cesario, his body language may soften or become more tender, hinting at his deeper feelings, though he is unaware of her true identity.
• Olivia: Olivia is intelligent, self-assured, and independent, but she is also caught up in the romantic confusion of the play. Her attraction to Cesario (Viola in disguise) is strong, and her actions should reflect both the seriousness of her emotions and the absurdity of her situation. Olivia can be staged with a regal posture, often standing tall and poised, but when in love, her movements might become softer and more fluid, expressing her vulnerability.
• Malvolio: Malvolio is proud, pompous, and easily fooled. His physicality should be rigid and formal, reflecting his self-importance. When he is tricked into believing Olivia is in love with him, his movements could become more exaggerated and self-congratulatory, heightening the comic effect. In contrast, when he realises he has been made a fool of, his movements should become stiff and awkward, showing his embarrassment.
• Sir Toby Belch: Sir Toby is boisterous, drunk, and full of energy. His movements should be large and ungainly, often swaying or staggering as if intoxicated. He thrives on chaos and mischief, so his blocking can be erratic and unpredictable, creating a sense of disorder whenever he is on stage.
• Feste: Feste, the fool, is witty, sharp-tongued, and often the voice of reason in the play. He should be physically agile, with a sharp, mischievous quality to his movements. Feste's role is to entertain and mock others, so his blocking can be playful and quick, always moving between characters with ease and delivering his witty lines with timing and precision.
• Sir Andrew Aguecheek: Sir Andrew is a foolish, comic figure who is easily manipulated. His movements should be clumsy and uncertain, reflecting his lack of confidence and intelligence. He often follows Sir Toby and can be staged as a follower, mimicking Sir Toby’s actions but without the same level of control or wit.

Set Design and Setting

Twelfth Night is set in the fictional land of Illyria, a place of both fantasy and confusion. The set design should reflect the whimsical and carefree nature of the play while also highlighting the contrasting elements of the romantic and comic scenes.

• The Sea and Shipwreck: The play opens with a shipwreck, and the sea is a crucial part of the play's backdrop. The set could incorporate elements of water or ships, such as waves, sails, or ropes, to suggest the journey and transformation that the characters undergo. A simple, flexible set that can be rearranged quickly will help to suggest the fluidity and unpredictability of the play’s events.
• The Gardens and Olivia’s House: Olivia’s home should feel elegant yet slightly exaggerated, perhaps with lush greenery to reflect the romantic atmosphere of her world. Elements such as a large archway, balcony, or decorative pillars can provide opportunities for the actors to move in and out of different spaces, such as when Viola appears on the balcony during the famous scene with Olivia.
• The Tavern and Festivities: The scenes involving Sir Toby and his companions are filled with revelry and disorder. The set design for these moments could include a rustic tavern or a simple wooden table, with minimal props like bottles or glasses. The physical space should feel more chaotic, with characters moving about freely and spilling into each other’s personal space.
• Malvolio’s Confinement: When Malvolio is locked in a dark room, the set should reflect his isolation. This could be a small, confined space, with minimal light and only a few props to emphasise his discomfort and the absurdity of his situation.

Lighting and Sound

Lighting and sound in Twelfth Night play an important role in highlighting the contrasting elements of the play and creating a sense of atmosphere.

• Lighting: The lighting can be used to emphasise the fantasy and dreamlike nature of Twelfth Night. Soft, warm lighting can be used during romantic or tender moments, especially between Viola/Cesario and Orsino or Olivia. Bright lighting can enhance the comic scenes, especially those with Sir Toby, Feste, and the trickster antics of the play.
  • The use of shadowy or dim lighting can be effective during moments of confusion, such as when characters are in disguise or in the throes of mistaken identity. The final scene, when the truth is revealed, could be marked by brighter, clearer lighting, symbolising the return to clarity.
• Sound: Sound effects can help to create the atmosphere of Illyria, with elements like gentle sea sounds, music, or distant laughter adding to the dreamlike quality of the play. Musical interludes can be used to transition between scenes, particularly when Feste sings or plays the music of the time. The sound can also play a role in the comical moments, such as the noise of Malvolio’s imprisonment or the raucous behaviour of Sir Toby and his companions.

Movement and Blocking

Movement and blocking in Twelfth Night are essential in emphasising the physical comedy, confusion, and emotional relationships between characters.

• Cross-dressing and Confusion: The physicality of cross-dressing plays a major role in the confusion and humour of the play. Viola, disguised as Cesario, must move in ways that both hide her true identity and convey her inner emotional turmoil. Her physical gestures as Cesario should be more masculine;  perhaps with more solid, grounded movements, while as Viola, her movements should be more fluid and graceful. The contrast between these physicality’s should be emphasised during scenes where her true identity is at stake.
• Farcical Elements: Farce is a key element of Twelfth Night, and many of the most comic moments rely on quick physical actions and misunderstandings. Malvolio’s absurd behaviour when he is tricked into believing Olivia loves him should be exaggerated with stiff, overly-enthusiastic gestures, while Sir Toby’s drunken antics should involve clumsy, unpredictable movement. The use of slapstick, quick, exaggerated actions such as falls, pratfalls, or mistaken movements;  can add to the comedy of these scenes.
• Romantic Interaction: The physicality between characters, particularly in romantic moments, should emphasise the tension and longing between them. Romeo and Juliet’s passionate gestures or the emotional distance between them should be mirrored in how close or far apart the characters stand during key scenes.

Pacing and Timing

The pacing in Twelfth Night is crucial to maintain the balance between romance, comedy, and confusion.

• Comic Timing: The farcical elements, particularly those involving Sir Toby, Feste, and Malvolio, depend on excellent comic timing. Pauses, sudden shifts in energy, and quick changes in physicality can create moments of surprise and laughter. Scenes involving multiple characters in misunderstandings should be fast-paced, with everyone trying to speak over each other or react to the confusion around them.
• Romantic Pacing: In contrast, the romantic scenes, particularly between Viola/Cesario and Orsino or Olivia, should have a slower, more measured pace. These moments can be filled with longing glances, pauses, and tender gestures that contrast the quicker-paced comic scenes.
• The Final Resolution: The resolution of the play; where all misunderstandings are cleared up and characters are united, should feel more deliberate and calm. The pace can slow down to allow the emotional impact of the revelations to sink in, with characters facing each other in a more structured way than in the earlier chaos.

Conclusion

Staging Twelfth Night requires balancing the elements of comedy, romance, mistaken identity, and deeper themes like love and social roles. By focusing on character relationships, physicality, and the contrasting tones of farce and romance, you can bring this play to life in a way that captures both its humour and its emotional complexity. Whether through blocking, lighting, sound, or movement, Twelfth Night offers endless possibilities for creative exploration.