William Shakespeare`s Twelfth Night

TWELFTH NIG H T
by Willifw i Shakespeare
The play will be perfo rmed in rwo acts with an in ter mission.
we would appreciate you r turni ng ojIal1electronic device" includ illg those
used for textillg as the l~'l;ht disturbs other audience m em bers.
CA ST <I N OR DER OF APPEA RANC.E)
Benjamin M . Brown > O rsino , D u ke of Illyria
W illiam Boone • C urio , his attend ant (also Second O fficer)
C h ris G riggs · Valent in e, his attendant (also First Officer & Priest)
Jay Artis • Sea C aprain, Viola's rescu er (also Servanr)
Kati e Rob ey > Viola, Sebastian's twi n
Sha u n na Hunter • O livia, a gendewo ma n
An drew M aclntire • Sir Tob y Belch , her uncle
Josh [ arrerr • Fabian , her attendant
Jenn ifer Virale > Maria, her gendew ol1lan
Kevin D un n > Malvoli o, her at tendan t
Ro bert C lem mer > Peste the C lown, her jester
Jayson Broo ks > Sir And rew, a knigh t
Drake H uzck • Sebast ian , Vio la's twin
Kevin j on cs > An to nio, Sebastian's rescue r
PRO D U C.T I O N TEAM
Sh irley Kagan· D irecto r
C arso n W ilson · Assista nt Di rector
Matthew Naab • Assistant Di rector
Joshu a Young • Stage Ma nager
Brad Stoller • Set D esign, ' Iech uical D irec tor
Pat rick Crandol • Lighring D esign
Shirl ey Kagan
>
C ostu me and Sou nd De signer
Cos tu me s co ur tesy of Pierre's of Phil ad elphia
Setting: T he Island of IIlyria
CAST <IN ORD ER OF APPEARANCE) &. PRODUCTION TEAM
lk njamin M. Brown
Orsino. I)ukc ot IllyriJ
W1l1i;un Boone
Curi», Iii:.anendanr
1 ;o1~,
Katie Robev
Viob . S<-h"l\tian\ (Wi n
)L'l1llifcr Vit;J.lc
her gcude...vo man
l\ fMi~1 .
Drake HlIlCk
Sdwt i3 r1, Vi()la'" twin
Manhew N u b
Assist.mr Dinxtor
Second Olli", ,)
Chris Grigg­
Valentine. his attendant
(J.ho FitvrO fficer & Pr ic~ t)
!.Iv .\ rri,
Sc.1Caprain. Vinla's
1L""\ ::...1.ln
(J (' Q ~H:r\ ~J nt }
Sha unn.r H unter
Andrew Maclurire
j osh jr rreu
Olivi». J genrlewoman
Si, l " h)' Bekh, her uncle
Fabian. I cr .rncnd.uu
Kevin Dunn
Robert Clemmer
Makc fio. her attendant
Fo t [he'C IO\\n . her jo t r
[ayson Brook>
."iil Andrew. J knighr
Antonio, Sch..I ~( i.Ul\
Shilie:rKagan
Cm on Wil",n
Direc tor; C OSH ll n (' and
..\ ~\ i ~ [Jm Director
rescuer
.soll nJ [) (",ignl'"f
Kev in [ones
Jo..\ .IlW You l1~
Bm l 51OIk,
SlJ.gt: j\ IJO zcr
Set Design.
Tec hnical Director
Patrick Cr."J,,1
l i rlning Ol.- ign
D IRECTO R'S NOTE
In Thomas M ann's Death in Venice, an ob server says o f th e main ch aracter: "Yo u
see, Aschenbach has always lived like th is"-here the speaker closed the fingers o f
his left hand to a fisr- "never like th is" -and he let his open hand hang relaxed
from the back of a chair. And no w for a spoiler alert ! By the end of the novella, rhc
formerly co ntro lled . u psta nding, morally rigid, hard-working hero ends up in a
condition h is form er self would surely have condemned : co rru pt, lovesick, rou ged
and ridi culous; mor e slack tha n th e hand on the back of the chair, he lies pro strate
in his deck lou nger looking out at the sea. What adds to the traged y of his ou tcome
is th at he is the agent respo nsible for it. The ver y control of w hic h he is so pro ud­
denou ncing alt softn ess, emot io n, passion - wh en even slightly co m prom ised . lead s
to a tota l upheaval in his core .
Asch enbach ma y. perhaps. have found a soul mate in Twel fth N ight's Malvolio,
another tigh tly wou nd-up character. M alvolio rejects life's passio nate side . He
can not uncl en ch him self until a trick played on him , com bined wi th his own
intensive mental co nt o rtions. allow him ro let go. He foo ls h imself into thinki ng
th at rhe love missives he finds arc intended for h im:
M, O. A, I; - thi s sim ulation is no t as the formet; - and yet, to crush th is
a litt le, it would bow ro me , for everyo ne o f the se letters are in m y name .
M alvolio sees wh at he wants ro see, thou gh he needs to crush things a little to make
th em fit. O nce he d oes. the path ro all thar he form erly scorned is laid ou t for him:
a path tha t leads to emo tional devastation, Like Asch enbach , he bet rays h imself an d
en ds up a loser, at least by his own standards.
So who wins? If the uptigh t one breaks o ut of rigid ity, th en it is the Rexible one, the
one capa ble of bending, yield ing. ada p ting, who reap s life's sweetest rewards: love,
happiness, fulfill m -n r. In thi s play we see this no tion reinforced th ro ugh O livia,
capable of droppi ng her mourning in favor o f her newfound love, and O rsino , w ho
whe n rejected is capable of besrowin g his affection s elsewhe re. But we see it m ost o f
all with the twi ns. Seemingly presc ient of the words in Sha kespeare's later wor k, The
Tempest:
Full fathom five th y father lies;
O f his bones are cor al made ;
T hose are pearls that were his eyes;
No thing o f hi m that doth fade
Bu t doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange
Viola and Sebastian heed th e call to tran sform . T hese creatu res are tossed about
by a storm that separa tes rh -rn, set ad rift o n the wide sea and birt hed o nto the
island of Illyria whe re. rath er tha n cling to their for mer selves th ey emerge new
minted, strong er and happi er with ident ities and opportu ni ties of wh ich they take
full adva n tage. Rich and strange inde ed . \X7e are lucky this time aro u nd to have
excellent dra maturgical no tes co urt esy of C risrine Varholy an d the st uden ts in he r
Sha kespea re class. O ver the course of rehea rsals, stud -nts in this class served as
person al d raruar u rgs to members of the cast, thereby deep ening o ur understand ing
of the play. Fo r th is we are very grat eful.
DRAMATURGICAL NOTES
W illiam Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Or What You Wi!! la kes its prirnary title
from J pop ular ho liday th at repr esented a tim e of wa rmt h and go od cheer d ur ing
midwinter. In England at the tu rn of the seventee n th cent ury, Twelfth N igh t
was celebrated the eveni ng of January 5, th e nigh t p reced ing th e Epi ph any, the
com memo ration of th e Christ ch ild's ad or ati on by the M agi; the holi day also had
its roots in pagan t radi tio ns, like the Rom an Satu rnalia of mid winter. O n Twelfth
N igh t, the wo rld was believed to be turned u pside down. The n igh t was celebrated
wit h feasting, dancing, and gift- giving, and , most im port antl y, by role reversals:
often, an alternate king wo uld be chose n for the day, servant s wo uld act as masters,
and wo me n or ch ildren wou ld serve as heads of th eir hou seh olds, Beca use th e
normal rules of life were suspende d, there was J sense that virt ually an yt hi ng could
hap pen on Twelfth N igh t.
While ShJ kespe are's play does not represent the actu al event ofTwclfrh igh t,
it certain ly invo kes its spirir. The play revels in th e chao s that acco m panies both
the particular holi day an d love in general. T he audi en ce witness s no t o nly the
celebratory drun kenness uf Sir Toby and his Friends, but also behavior that wo uld
seem u nbelievable un der o rd inary circums tances- a wo ma n perce ived as a man, a
Puri tan dr essed in the latest and gaudi est of fash iolls, an upper-cl ass lady p ursuing
the love of a servan t.
One of the mo re o bvious sources of com ed y in th e play comes from Viola's
disguise as the male servant C esario, prod ucin g a love tr iangle in which Orsi no
desires O livia, wh o desires C esario/ Vio la, w ho . in turn, desires Orsino. Althuugh
a modern aud ience can find humor in O livia's ill-fated at tem p ts at wooin g a
wom an who has co nvinced everyo ne tha t she is a m an , there was anothe r layer of
gend er- be nding to this scenario whe n the play was or iginally p rod uced. Becaus e
women were not allowed to act up o n the p rofession al >rage du ring Shakesp eare's
lifet im e, Viola wo uld have been played by a yo ung boy, as wo uld have all th e o ther
female cha racters. T h us, on stage , the ch aracter C esario co uld be revealed as a man
preten din g to be a wo ma n pretend ing to be a man. errainly, a great deal of meta ­
humo r is intended th ro ugh the extensive layering, as aud iences were well aware
of the m ulti ple levels of role-play an d gende r-bendi ng that were being enacted. In
thi s way. Sha kespeare is actively com plica ting the audience's co ncep tion of gender,
perhaps sugg esting rh:u ste reotypical roles and assum p tio ns ab out the sexes are
merely societal inventions .
Shak espeare also ofTers multi ple de pictions of desire, desire that cu rs across d ass in
bot h d irect ions and likewise man ifests itself in all possible combi na tions of gender.
The play's su bt itle, What You Wilt. seems to reflect th e fluid ity of these relatio ns hips.
In Sha kespeare's Engl and. the wo rd "will" conno ted both sim ple in clinat ion, as it
does today, and also uncontrolled d esire or passion . In thi s play, characters' passion s
are not co nfi ned to co nvent io nal relationshi ps o r mod es o f expressio n, and love
need not have a speci fic shape or form . It can be whatever o ne wills.
In stark contrast to the sp irit of misrule, festivity, an d fluidity em bodied by most of
the ch aract ers and situ at io ns in the play, M alvo lio stands alo ne. Accord ing to M aria,
Mal volio, whose na me means ill will, is "a kind of purita n" (2.3.125). In earl y
seventee nth-ce nt ury England , Puritans had fo rm ed an alternate religio us movement
since th ey judged th at the Church of England had no t gone far eno ugh durin g the
Pro testant Refor mation co pu rge itself from its C atholic pr act ices. Because they
believed in the depravity of hu mans and the need for individ uals co at tem p t to
live like sain ts on eart h, Puri tans lived very austere lives; th ey eschewe d lux ur ies,
op ulence, and a nyth ing perce ived to be decadent. Not ab ly, Puritans dis liked the
th eat er. They o bjected to the basic co ncep t of ac ting. becau se it led peo ple to
behave deceit fully, and especia lly to the pract ice of boys dr essin g as wo men, whic h
they felt promo ted general licenti o usness and particularly homosexual desire.
\'\!hen Malvolio eme rges curly in the play as an opponent of foo lery, dr inking,
singing, and general merrym akin g, the au d ien ce recog nizes his overall o utloo k as
Puritan an d his stance as ant i-theatrical as well. But M alvo lio's develo pme nt d u ring
rhe cou rse of the p lay aids in furthe r estah li ~h ing the idea of role reversal. M alvol io ,
who ap pear s to be a stric t, cold- hearted Pu ritan at the outset , becomes a complete
mo ckery of hi mself as rhc play p rogresses, because he does no t con sisten tly follow
Puritan beliefs. Malvo lio's personality traits of pride an d arrogance undercu t his
religious zeal. H is fan tasies of ma rry ing O livia appea r to cen ter no t on his love o r
desire [or her, bu t rath er o n his lo ngings fo r power and luxur iou s goods. ;~ur t h c r,
Malvolio is willi ng to carry ou t th e absurd fashion request in the fraud ulent letter
by weari ng yellow sto ck ings cross-gartered and to sm ile constantl y, behaviors that
are deci dedly in contrast to a Pu ritan d emean o r. T hro ugh M alvolio's transition fro m
a co nservative Puritan to a materialistic d reame r, we see how his cha racter reflects
the chao s tha r is associared wit h the holiday atmos phere of the play.
In Shakespeare's Englan d, when the holi day ofTwelfrh Night end ed, social order
and trad itional practices we re restored . In the fi nal act of the play, we see a simi lar
dynamic: misraken ident ities are revealed, gen der confusion is sorred ou t, and
I
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marriages are solem nized or planned . Fesre's final song remi nd s rhe audi ence rha r
ho lidays are no r erernal and rhar life remains fu ll of difficult challenges: it po ints
the audience toward th e ongo ing daily existence that lies beyon d the sho res of rhe
fant astic realm of Illyria and ou rside the walls of th e rhearer. Al rho ugh "the rain
it rain erh every day" (5.1.3 8 1), aud ienc es can still enjoy a respire from ord inary
existence throu gh a br ief holiday ar rhe the ater.
-Classmembers of English 334
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CAST AND STAFF BIOGRAPH IES
(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
J ay Artis (Sea C aptain, servant) is a Span ish an d Psychology majo r at Ham pden­
Sydney C ollege. H was raised in Washi ngto n. D C, a few blocks from the C apito l
buildi ng. This is h is first play. and he ho pes to co nti nue in m o re plays wit h
H am pd en-Syd n y C II gc th eatre and d id q u ire a te\ fash ion shows in h igh schoo l.
William Boone (Curio) was born in rhe Bull C iry and grew up in 1 urham , No rth
C aro lina . H is eldest b rother. M arrin. d ied in the Bat tle ofTherruo pylac, W h ile
on a trek through th e M isry M ou ntains. M art in was am bush ed by rabid Ti beta n
Mo nks an d cast int o the Iircs of O blivio n. \'V'illiam th en too k up Iaido, the ancien t
art of Swordsm an-sh ip
10
defeat hi s father and b ring bala nce to the fo rce. In m id dle
school he acted in th ree plays: 11110 the Woods. A Midsummer Night's D ream, and
The W'iZlml u.fOz. G o ing into high schoo l, h e p layed varsity foot ball and lacros se.
C om in g to H am pden-Syd ney, he planned o n p laying lacro sse, but upo n arrival, he
realized the hcn chrs o f an o pen sched ule, so he joined the rugby team instead .
Jayson Brooks (Sir Andrew), a so phomore at H -SC, began his co lour fu l stage
life early on in h is yea rs in ch urch prod uction s. He qui ckly mo ved on to school
the at re w he re h e figured (Jut the very th ing h e want ed
to
d o wi th his free ti me:
act. H e: has starred in such gra dc scho ol pr od uc t ions as fl ow to Succeed in Business
Without RMf(J' TI),ing. A nnie Get Your GUll. Gl~Yj' ll lld Doffs, and a magn ificent
product ion called Al! Shook Up (h is Iavou rire to date ). U po n arriving at H -SC ,
Jayson burst ont o the stud io stage as a Icrna lc rat in heat. From th ere he has traveled
into the land s o f Assistant Di recting and 1110 rc main stage shows. H is mos t recent
participation was in Jo sh Jarrett's A , 'hristl/J(fj' Carol. Presen tly he is accep ting
applicatio ns for so meo ne to accom pany him
to
the 20 13 Tony Awards an d the
2014 Academ y Awa rds. See h im personally if you wish to ap p ly,
Benjam in M. Brown (Duke Orsino) is a ju nio r m ajoring in biology and fine arts
w irh m in ors in in tern arion al stu d ies. cnviro n mc n ral stud ies. and chemi str y, He is
the p resident of C hi Bet a Phi nation al ho nor ary. vice pr esident of th e International
an d Roraract C lubs as well as the treasu rer of Alpha C hi Sigm a p rofession al
fraternity. I\ f(<.'r grad uating, he will attend MCV wi th the inten tion o f pursui ng an
M .D . and Ph .D. in epid em iology. U ltimately, he wo uld like to rravel th e world and
pract ice m ed icine in un derdevelope d na tion s.
Robert Clemmer (Feste, the clown) was bor n in a log cabin in th e Shenandoa h
Valley and rais ·d to live ofT th e land . Jnforrunarcly, bec ause of urbani zati on , he
had
to
adapt
to
the rigo rs o f city lifc. The bu stl ing metrop o lis of Sraunron pr oved
too great for the young ma n an d he learned that in or de r to survive he had to ad op t
the methodology of street urch ins. Learn ing to play the ukulel " Ro bert rose [Q
prominence on the Stau nto n ukulele circuit. Iter realizing that there was no fu tu re
in ukul elc-ing, Rob ert ente red Hampden-Syd ney, do ub le ma jor ing in history and
classical stu d ies. Unfo rt u nately, th is is his first perfo rmance o n the main stage, but
at least he has graced the schoo l with h is p resence as he starred in severa l am' act
plays.
Pa trick Crandol (Lighting Designer) is a sopho mo re studyin g co m p uter science,
and th is is the third p rod uc tion th at he's wo rked on since co m ing to Ha m pden­
Syd ney. H e hop s th is show w ill bring dow n the ho use... b ut no t the ceiling.
Kev in D unn (M alvo lio) , Prof,ss or of Chemistry. has been involved with a n um ber
of H ampden-Sydney pro d uction s. Most recen tly, he appeared as the Med iu m
in Rashomon, Lucky in \% itingfo r Godot, and C orb.iccio in Volponl'. He was th e
Assistant D irecto r for W itch cs and Mayhem in M arbeth , H e played Pinch in
Comedy ofErrors, Sn ug in A Mi dsummer N ight ;· Dream (2 prod uct ions), and Dr.
Seward in Dram /a. H e was appalled to realize that it had been r ur years since his
last production and is happ y to return to the H am pden-Syd ney stage .
C h ris to p her G riggs (Val en ti ne, Priest) is from So ut h Hi ll, VA, and he is a
freshm an here at Ha m pd en-Syd ney. H e WJ.S recently in Josh Jarrett 's p rod uction
of A Christmas Carol. Earlier in rh . year, he was in the fine ar ts d epartm en t's
production of Caucasian Chalk Circle. hris' int erests include film, writing, and
theatre, and he plans to majo r in English. H e'd like to thank everybody for being
super cool and n ice! En joy the show!
Sh a u nn a H unter (Olivia) is pleased to be ret u rnin g to the Ham pd en- Sydney
College stag afrer a break of several years. Prior (() her cu rrent role in Tweljih Night,
she acte d in several Ham pden-Syd ney productions incl ud ing /VIachetf, and the
student-directed play Musicfrom a SparkliliK 1'I1I1Iet , but her fol vor ite role will always
be Belinda Blair/ Flavia Brent in the exhausting b ur delightfu l ' uises Off. W hen nor
on the stage, her day-to -d ay role is Public Services Librarian at H ampd en-Sydney
College. She would like to dunk the cast and crew for an experien ce wo rt h all of
the hard work and the long ho urs,
Drake Huzek (Sebas t ian) is a senio r. T h is role ma rks his th ird on th e H am pden­
Sydney C ollege stage , wh ere he previously appeared as Ivan in Art and in King
Richard III.
Josh Janet (Fabian) is a senio r in his last sem est er at H -SC. T his sh ow will be
his 30th production lifetime, and his 24 th as an actor. As thi s is his last, he hop es
everyon e enjoys th e show as mu ch as he has enjoyed doing them for the past four
years. Thank you all for th e best years of my life.
Kevin Jones (Antonio) is makin g his long-await ed return to the Hampden -Syd ney
stage. You ma y rem ember h im as Tart uffe in Ta.rtuffi , or as Brian Runnicles in No
Sex Please, we're British. So me of Kevin's othe r roles have include d Tony in \.Vest Side
Stor), and Jerry Lukowski in The FullMonty perfo rmed at Waterworks Theatre in
Farm ville. He would like to th ank his parents for putting up with him for 2 1 yea rs,
Kat ie and Jenni for makin g his life suck just a little less wh ile being here; Ben, Josh,
EJ, th e best room mate in th e wo rld Brandon , m y bro ther from anot her mo ther Joe,
and my best frie nd , wi t hout wh om I pro bably would not be acad emic ally eligible or
em otionally stable eno ugh to be here today. Thanks for everythi ng Sco tt! This one's
for all of yo u! Oh and of cou rse Sh irley- the re JUSt aren't enough good th ings to say
about her! Enj oy th e show !
Shirley Kagan (Director) is usin g thi s production of Twelfth Night to celebrate her
twelfth year of tcach ing theatre at H ampden-Syd ney. She wishes to thank the cast
and crew for th e wonde rful work they have done in pu tt ing thi s joyous p roduction
together. Kagan is also an associate art ist of Richmond Sha kespeare. Her most
recent app earan ce with th e gro up was as part of th e bicentennial celebrati ons o f
Edg ar Allen Poe performed with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra's " Kicked
Back C lassics" series in Janu ary.
Andrew Maclntire (Sir Toby Belch) is in h is th ird consecut ive appearance on the
H ampden-S ydn ey stage this year. Andrew is u tterly deli ghted at th e chance to spou t
tawdry Shakespearean ribaldry as Sir Toby Belch, the best ch aracter ever in the best
play ever. Essen tially Arsenic and Old Lace is co m pa rable, but he also played th e best
character in th at back in high school, so it all works out. Andrew is a sophomore
double majoring in fine art s and En glish and spends h is spare time wa nd ering about
in a confused daze.
Matthew Naab (Assistant Director) is a freshman. part icip at ing in his third m ajor
show here at H ampden-Sydney. This year M atthew ha s been stage mana ger for The
Caucasian Chalk Circle and A Christmas Carol, and he acted in the fall '08 on e-act
festival. In hi gh school he was an activ e member in th e drama club, making it all
th e way up to the tech positi on of technical dire ctor. H e looks forw ard to other
th eater productions here at Ham pden-Sydney, including th e upcoming sp ring
sh ows and on e act festival.
Katie Robey (Viola) is a Freshman theat re major and English m ino r at Lon gwood
University and is th rilled to be performing in her fourt h H am pden-Sydney show
th is year. Past H-S C perform an ces include A Christmas Carol, Deliver Us Not, and
Caucasian Chalk Circle. In the future Katie plans to move into John's Auditorium
where she will live rent free. She would like to th an k her fam ily (m ost especiall y
her parent s C ynt hia and Da vid Rob ey), her friends , the Lo ngwood theatre babies,
her dram atu rg Da vid Rouen , the AMAZIN G cast and crew (love to the Trop ical
Tuesday crew), and the very talented H- SC the atre professo rs Shirley Kagan and
Matt Dubroff. Shout our to th e best roomie ever, "Co ng ratu lations Jenni-G O
DZ! "
Brad Stoller (Set Designer & Technical Dir ector) is designing thi s, his tenth
set at H ampden-Sydney where he has also tau ght introd uction to th eatre and
playwr iting. In his life in Charlottesville he is a member of two improvisational
the atre co mpanies, teache s the Alexan der Technique and has a small practice of
drama therapy with autistic spectrum child ren.
Jennifer Vitale (Maria) is an assistant professor of psychology at H ampden-Sydney
College. Sinc e arriving at the College, she has been fortunate enough to work with
the amazing men and wo men of Hampden-Sydney the at re on six shows, mo st
recen tly the Fall '08 production of 7flrtu/fi (Dorine). It's always a pleasure and
pri vilege to see just what o ur stu dents can dol
Carson Wilson (Assistant Director) is a mo nth old er th an Ben Brown and has
wasted his life. He wo uld like to thank Sh irley and Jo sh for wo rking extra hard all
th e time s he didn't come to rehearsal, and the Busine ss and Fin anci al Aid offices for
making this po ssible.
Joshua Young (Stage Manager) is back at H ampden-Sydney after stu dy ing abroad
a year in Australia. He is a senior psychol ogy major very mu ch excited to be back
in the th eatre wo rld and can't wait for everyone to see the show. Thi s will be the
second production th at he has stage ma naged . His first one was Gag arin Way which
he had a lo t of fun doin g. He has done main stage plays such as The Life and Death
of Richard the Third, and one-act plays such as Dcliucr [ I>. Not, and Medea. He wants
to th ank the cast and crew for all their hard work and look s forward to a great show.