[SDS] Fwd: 12th Night - Project and Audition Information

[Ayse Akin]

Please read the email below from Bethany regarding "The 2017 DeBaun
Shakespeare Project: TWELFTH NIGHT, or What You Will"!

Ayse Akin
Stevens Institute of Technology
Computer Science Co-op 2019
Stevens Dramatic Society, Vice President
Sigma Delta Tau - Delta Nu Chapter, Web Master
Stevens Women in Computer Science, Public Relations

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bethany Reeves <breeves at stevens.edu>
Date: Wed, Nov 16, 2016 at 9:12 PM
Subject: 12th Night - Project and Audition Information
To: "jphilli2 at stevens.edu" <jphilli2 at stevens.edu>
Cc: "aakin at stevens.edu" <aakin at stevens.edu>

*The 2017 DeBaun Shakespeare Project: TWELFTH NIGHT, or What You Will*



*Director: Bethany Reeves*

*Producer: Carl Russell*

*Lighting Design: Shawna Cathey*



*Interested in tech – designing, building, running? Please contact Shawna
Cathey: **scathey at stevens.edu* <scathey at stevens.edu>



In this document:



·      The Basics and All Dates, including AUDITION DATES

·      The Play and its People

·      List of Roles



*THE BASICS*



*What this is**:* this is the fourth annual full-play Shakespeare workshop
production put on by DeBaun. “Workshop” refers to the fact that tech values
are usually on the minimal side, especially sets. Since Shakespeare’s plays
were designed for similar conditions, this works just fine.



However, acting values are *maximal*. We dig in deeply, and do a great deal
of the kind of Shakespeare text analysis that’s useful for actors (what do
the sounds/rhythms/word choices etc. suggest, from moment to moment?).
Intensive private coachings are part of the process, as well as group
workshops before winter break.



*12N is OFF BOOK* – prior DeBaun Shakespeareans, please note that since
this year we have a slightly longer rehearsal period than usual, we will
not be using cue scripts.



*Auditions**:*

Tuesday 11/29 and Wednesday 11/30, 7:00-9:45 pm; DeBaun (unless otherwise
announced closer to the dates)



No experience required.



*Alumni* are very welcome to audition and have been cast in prior
productions, several times in major roles. However, as a very general rule,
current students do receive preference in casting.



*Audition sides* are available by email upon request (write to
breeves at stevens.edu). Hard copies will be available in the Music Room* as
of 11/18 and at the auditions as well.



*Howe Center, 4th Floor - see top of file cabinets upon entering room.



*Preparatory workshops/coachings**:* Selected dates/times TBA, Dec. 12-17



*Rehearsal period**: *

Starts MLK Day for those in town; full start on Tuesday January 17 (please
note we’ll want to use as much of this day as possible, as there are no
classes). Rehearsals will be chiefly nights & weekends.



*Off-book date:* Saturday January 28.



*TECH WEEK* is sacred: Sat. Feb. 4 through Thurs. Feb. 9



*PERFORMANCES*: Friday Feb. 10, Saturday Feb. 11



*Time frame:* We’ll have 24 days total (25 with MLK Day) from the start of
the rehearsal period through final dress; for at least 4 of those, there
will be no rehearsal beyond some possible coaching (M/TH nights).



So, 20-21 evenings & weekend days worth’ of possible rehearsal time (which
is actually generous for our Shakespeare projects).



Scheduling availability will be a major consideration in casting.

​

*The Play and its People*



One of Shakespeare’s favorite devices is to use deception to reveal truth,
and he does it in *Twelfth Night* in numerous ways.



The play is full of disguises and illusions as to identity, and most of its
major characters are in some sort of hiding. Some have false ideas about
themselves (and/or others), one is literally in disguise, and everyone is
in the dark about *something.*



The play can be seen as consisting of roughly two intersecting plots. One
is the love plot with the noble characters (Viola, Orsino, Olivia, &
Sebastian, with an honorable mention to Antonio). The love plot is the one
most affected by literal disguise and ensuing comic situations.



The other plot is the “gulling of Malvolio,” involving the clown characters
(“mechanicals”). This plot centers around Olivia’s ambitious steward,
Malvolio, and other members & guests of her household (Sir Toby, Maria, Sir
Andrew Aguecheek, Fabian, and the free agent Feste). Here, Malvolio’s
misperception of his own position, and the ease with which the others can
thereby deceive him, is the source of the comedy.



Side note: the festival of 12th Night, in Britain, turned household status
designations upside down (i.e., the servants became the masters). The
clowns vs. Malvolio plot in the play seems to echo this idea.



I suggest looking up a synopsis of the play to get a sense of how the
various shenanigans in both plots unfold.



*ROLES*

*Please note that in general, we are open to cross-gender casting.
Exceptions are when such casting might confuse a story line or character
arc.*



*Upshot: audition for any role that interests you, and women, don’t be
stopped by seeing only three female names below.*



*Twelfth Night* is an ensemble play. While some characters certainly have
more lines than other, there is no clear, single “lead,” and many of the
fewer-line roles can really stand out. That said:



*Pretty Much Major Roles (“major” means “has lots of lines”)*



*Malvolio:* Olivia’s steward (business manager of her estate). He’s an
upper-level servant who aspires to social-climb, via marriage, into the
nobility. In Elizabethan times, the promotion of men of ability over men of
birth was a relatively new phenomenon, and engendered a great deal of
discomfort and hostility, as it innately questioned the class system.
Malvolio is such a major part that some 19th century productions of the
play apparently changed the play’s name to *his* name. The role requires
the ability to play high status along with high-level language and acting
chops, especially comic.



*Countess Olivia: *Olivia, a young woman left in sole charge of her estate
by the fairly recent deaths of her brother and father, starts the play in a
place of self-delusion: she has declared she will cloister herself and
mourn her losses for a full seven years. Then she very unexpectedly falls
in love with “Cesario” (Viola, in disguise), when her first intention was
to mock “him.” The fact that she can’t help but respond in this way to such
a genuine person (disguise aside) says very good things about the woman
Olivia has the potential to become. Her actor must be able to play high
status, have a keen ear for language, and be capable of both great
vulnerability and great silliness onstage.



*Viola:* Viola is one of Shakespeare’s “true blue” characters, and is the
heart of the play. She spends almost the entire story disguised as a young
man, yet she is nonetheless such a genuine, let’s-be-real-about-this person
that she is the means by which both Olivia and Orsino gain truer
understandings of themselves. She herself falls for Orsino, and when she is
faced with wooing Olivia in his name, she truly tries to do it, for his
sake. She has some of the most beautiful, heartfelt language in the play.
Her actor must have strong language chops, heart, and some reactive comic
capacity. *WEAPONRY INVOLVED*





*Major roles but with fewer lines than the above folks:*



*Orsino: *Orsino, a nobleman, is similar to Olivia in that he has false
ideas about who he is. Orsino (the name means “young bear,” which suggests
a man of great vitality) is in love with love. He focuses this “love” on
Olivia, but rather than actually wooing her for himself, he sends various
representatives in his stead. He spends his *own* time rhapsodizing about
her, and about love in general, in highly idealized imaginings. Again like
Olivia, however, it speaks well of his potential that he responds so warmly
to the very genuine nature of the disguised “Cesario” (Viola).



*Sir Toby Belch:* his name is indicative! Toby embodies the “Lord of
Misrule” figures who would preside over the actual 12th Night festivities
of English households, and his actor needs to go for it with an expansive,
fun-loving presence onstage. He is Olivia’s “black sheep” uncle, an
over-aged party boy who lives for wine, women, laughter and song. He’s full
of life and jumps at any chance to make mischief for fun. On the darker
side, he’s resentful enough of Malvolio to really go over the line with the
“gulling,” and takes heartless advantage of the clueless Sir Andrew.  *COMBAT
& POSSIBLY WEAPONRY BRIEFLY INVOLVED*



*Sir Andrew Aguecheek:* this is one of the many roles in this play that can
steal the show. Andrew is a “foolish knight” of very dubious valor (or
sense) but a significant fortune, and Sir Toby is milking him for all he’s
worth. To keep the funds flowing, Toby encourages Andrew to woo
Olivia. *WEAPONRY
INVOLVED*



*Feste:* Feste, also one of the “mechanicals” (clowns) of the play, is the
actual *official *clown. He’s a freelance jester, primarily of Olivia’s
household but certainly not limited to it. He is the one character who
interacts with every other major character in the play – the floater.
Feste’s living depends not just on his wit but on seeing people clearly,
and mostly, he does. He also chooses actions that, for the most part, lead
those who are laboring under illusions towards more truthful perceptions.
To the extent that “the truth can set one free,” he is to some extent a
*healer*. He’s a very important force in the play, and – please take
note – *Feste
must be able to sing. His voice doesn’t need to be top-notch or suggest any
particular style, but it must be pleasant and tuneful. *



*Maria: *Maria (Muh-RAHee-uh) is Olivia’s chief gentlewoman attendant (a
very upper-level servant). She is earthy, fun, more than a little in love
with Sir Toby, and is protective of various members of the household and of
her own prerogative. When Malvolio wrongly accuses her of helping Toby in
his shenanigans, Maria launches into comic revenge mode, setting up some of
the most famous parts of the play.



*Secondary Characters (fewer lines, generally, than those above)*



*Sebastian:* this is Viola’s identical twin brother, and he’s only listed
under “secondary” because he arrives relatively late in the play.* BTW,
never mind about fraternal vs. identical and all that. Just go with it -
the two are mirror images. We do this with costumes, possibly hair voodoo,
and by Just Telling The Audience It’s So. Hasn’t failed yet. *Anyway – like
his sister, Sebastian survives the shipwreck, though neither knows the
other is alive. He is a likable, honorable, decent young man who finds
himself in a very strange situation, as people in a country he’s never
visited continually seem to think they know him, with some crazy results.
*BRIEF* * COMBAT INVOLVED; POSSIBLY WEAPONRY*



*Antonio, *the sea captain who saved Sebastian’s life, is also devoted to
him. Antonio is a tough fighting man with a history in Orsino’s territory,
but risks getting caught in order to stay with Sebastian and be sure he’s
got someone to back him up just in case of trouble. He is honor
personified, rough around the edges, and altogether admirable. This needs
an actor with some moral force. *WEAPONRY INVOLVED.*



*Fabian: *Fabian, one of the clowns, is a fun, clever character. He’s
usually portrayed as being of a lower class than the others. He’s involved
in the gulling of Malvolio and helps Toby set up & then stage a faux fight
between “Cesario” and Sir Andrew. He appears late-ish in the play, so will
likely be cast in some small role(s) earlier on, as well.



*Small roles:*



These characters have brief speeches, mostly to deliver plot information:



·      The Sea Captain who rescues Viola (not the same person as Anthonio)

·      Valentine, a courtier to Orsino

·      First Officer to Orsino

·      Priest to Olivia



Further small roles: Curio (courtier to Orsino), sailors, officers

​


Dr. Bethany Reeves
Director, Stevens Choir & DeBaun PAC Voice Studio
Music Program Coordinator, DeBaun Performing Arts Center
Stevens Institute of Technology
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