A celebration of love
Bring a picnic and enjoy Shakespeare under the stars
This month ACT brings you Shakespeare under the stars in a spectacular production of Twelfth Night. Composed by William Shakespeare in 1600 as the last of his ‘mature comedies’, Twelfth Night is essentially a celebration of love. The play has many elements common to Elizabethan romantic comedy, including the devices of mistaken identity, separated twins, and gender-crossing disguise, as its plot revolves around overcoming obstacles to ‘true’ love and happiness.
During the opening scenes, we are presented with the leading character, Viola, shipwrecked on the shores of Illyria. Finding herself alone in a strange land, she assumes that her twin brother, Sebastian, has been drowned in the wreck and realises she must find a way to survive. Masquerading as a young man under the name Cesario, she goes to work in the household of Duke Orsino.
The Duke is pining away for the love of Lady Olivia, but cannot have her because she is in mourning for her dead brother and refuses to entertain any proposals of marriage. Orsino therefore decides to use the disguised Viola as his page to deliver love messages to Olivia. In the mean time, Viola finds herself falling in love with Orsino; a rather difficult love to pursue as Orsino believes her to be a man. The situation becomes even more complex when Lady Olivia falls for the beautiful young Cesario believing her to be a man. The love triangle is now complete – Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario!
Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia’s household; her rowdy drunkard of an uncle, Sir Toby, his foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Olivia’s witty waiting-gentlewoman, Maria, the clever clown of the house, Feste, and Malvolio, the dour, prudish steward of Olivia’s household. Much of the play is taken up with the comic subplot, based around a conspiracy to make Olivia’s pompous head steward, Malvolio, believe that Lady Olivia wishes to marry him.
Although this is one of Shakespeare’s funniest and most popular plays, it has a dark undertone running throughout. Unlike his early comedies, Shakespeare strikes some discordant notes in Twelfth Night, which are not part of the conventional romantic comedy formula. Director Jo Taylor explains, “Twelfth Night focuses on the very well known theme of romantic love, but also shows that love hurts and that people can be quite cruel to each other. The famous universal love triangle plays on the idea that being in love is not an easy thing… I hope the performance successfully brings out both the tenderness and cruelty of love”.
The play also makes it clear that love is exclusionary as some characters eventually achieve romantic happiness, while others do not. Malvolio, who has pursued Olivia throughout the play, must ultimately face the realisation that he is a fool socially unworthy of his noble mistress. The subject of insanity also surfaces as a salient theme as the self-inflated and sour Malvolio is locked in a dungeon for alleged madness, and forced to swear to the heretical doctrines of Pythagoras. The behaviour of Sir Toby and Feste towards him becomes increasingly cruel towards the end, and he departs in bad humour, vowing revenge ‘on the whole pack of you’. Exciting drama grips the audience to the very end, as the magic of romance is continually juxtaposed with the unhappy themes of cruelty and insanity.
“This is a terrific play! Bawdy, funny and dramatic all in one, it makes you laugh and it makes you cry,” said Taylor. All this action can be enjoyed within the lovely grounds of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Here you can also bring along your own food and enjoy a picnic under the night sky during the interval. A bar will be selling wine and soft drinks, and Starbuck’s coffee will also be available to enjoy after your meal. Part of the funds raised from the play will be given to the Pregnancy Care Centre and the Cyprus Anti Cancer Society.
Twelfth Night
Shakespeare play staged by ACT. June 21-24. Grounds of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Byron Avenue, Nicosia. 8.30pm. In English. £6 from Soloneion Book Centre, Nicosia, or at the venue before each performance. Tel: 22 329293
