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

[Joshua Phillips]

Hi All,

Bethany just let me know that there has been a slight change in audition
rooms for Twelfth Night:

Tues 11/29, 7-9:45: DeBaun

Weds 11/30, 7-9:45: Music Room, 4th Floor Howe Ctr


Hope to see you all there!

Josh

On Thu, Nov 17, 2016 at 12:47 PM, Ayse Akin <aakin at stevens.edu> wrote:

> 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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> SDS at lists.stevens.edu
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>
>
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