Written by: William Shakespeare

TIME

What You Will. Inspired by the present moment.

SETTING

Illyria, a freewheeling coastal town.

Acts I and II: Multiple places in Illyria: The sea coast; Orsino’s court; Olivia’s home and gardens; the town center. 

DATES

November 9 - 11 & November 15 - 18 @ 8pm, 11/18 @ 2pm. The Forum Theater located in The Radio and Television Building, 35 South College Street, Athens OH 45701.

American Sign Language interpreted performance on Thursday 11/16.

Talk-backs after the show on Saturday 11/11 & Thursday 11/16.

SYNOPSIS

A shipwreck in perilous waters creates a sea of confusion on land in Shakespeare’s freewheeling romcom of loss, longing, mistaken identity, obsession, revenge and madness, Twelfth Night. Anything can happen in coastal Illyria, where characters leap in heart first: transcending gender, upending propriety and scoffing at noise ordinances. Or… What You Will.

CHARACTERS

The Visitors

Viola, later called Cesario

Sebastian, her twin Brother

Sir Andrew Aguecheek, suitor to Olivia

Antonio, friend of Sebastian

The Duke's Household

Orsino

Valentine

Curio/Officer 1

Luce 

Officer 2

The Countess's Household

Olivia

Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's uncle

Malvolio, Olivia's steward

Feste, Olivia's jester

Maria, Head of Household

Fabian

Attendants to Olivia

Warnings

Twelfth Night contains flashing lights and fog/haze.

Dramaturgical Note

“Transience in Twelfth Night: A Dramaturgy Discussion (Or What You Will)”

Sam Nelson (assistant director and dramaturg): For me, Twelfth Night stands on the shore between two waves in Shakespeare’s life and work. Written between 1600 and 1601, the play arrived at a moment of transition and uncertainty, as the birth of the new century overlapped with the twilight years of Elizabeth’s reign as queen. Do you see any elements of transition when looking at the world of Twelfth Night?

Ivy Posey (assistant director and assistant dramaturg): Oh, absolutely. Twelfth Night plays with gender more so than most contemporary plays I’ve read. Viola walks the line between man and woman and is perceived unanimously by others as a man just by dressing like one. Gender is a set of clothing, a facade, that can be slipped on and off as Viola juggles her secret identity. But why is transition in particular so focal in Twelfth Night? 

Sam: I think Shakespeare’s playing with this idea of transition in multiple ways. The play title itself refers to a time of annual transition, as the holiday Twelfth Night marks an end to the twelve days of Christmas and a beginning to the season of Carnival – the ritual of temporarily re-arranging social roles and obligations. We see this sort of social transgression in the play where Olivia is more interested in pursuing love with a page over a count, and where Malvolio as steward of a household is striving to marry his own countess. The whole world goes “topsy-turvy!”

Ivy: In our production, we turn gender roles upside down primarily through Feste, the play’s clown. Our Feste presents as masculine, feminine, and neither, externalizing their fluidity of identity, which is already present in the text. 

Sam: Feste’s an interesting character to examine with this question of fluid identity, particularly given how they play an alter ego, pretending to be Sir Topas, a priest.

Ivy: One of my favorite examples of fluid identity is when Feste says, “I wear not motley in my brain.” Here they subvert perceptions of their identity as a simple fool and challenge the idea that inside and outside should always match. Big ideas for a comedy, right? Twelfth Night doesn’t really sound like your typical comedic play. 

Sam: I don’t think it was like any other comedy Shakespeare had written. 

Ivy: How was it different? What was new about it? 

Sam: Well, Twelfth Night marked a shift in Shakespeare’s writing towards a more cynical genre of comedy. This play lacks the complete comic resolution that can be found in the earlier comedies such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Comedy of Errors. Some scholars call Twelfth Night Shakespeare’s first “dark comedy.” In these late plays, we see romance, wit, and revelry intermingling with mortality, grief, and deception. 

Ivy: Yes, grief is everywhere in Twelfth Night. Viola grieves her brother’s presumed death at sea. Olivia and her household grieve for her brother and father. Orsino grieves his youth and lack of love. In our production, we center grief especially by adding a mourning procession for Olivia, by choosing dark robes worn for her household, and by flipping the first two scenes, making the first event of the play the scene in which Viola learns of her brother’s death.

Sam: True, but Twelfth Night never lingers on one note for too long, dancing back and forth between its sadness and frivolity. Audiences ride the lyrical swells of romance and foolery. We are invited to join the characters in experiencing the joys, sorrows, and absurdities of their love stories.

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR

I remember the exact moment that Twelfth Night landed in my heart and stuck: I was an early career actor witnessing a good production at a theater in New York City; Viola and Orsino were playing a perfect not-quite love scene that was bursting with sexual tension. Viola is dressed as the boy page, Cesario, and she/he is taking Orsino’s measure. Liberated by her gendered clothing, she is (basically) saying, “see me, love me: all that I am, whatever I am”. Awed by what Viola was getting away with, I was blasted with the understanding that Twelfth Night is a dangerous, chaotic, (and hilarious) play: a play that pushes so many boundaries that I nightly stumble into ideas and images that fly in the face of what I thought I knew about it. On this fall day, the potency of the alternative title, or What You Will, is vibrating for me. What who will? The audience? The character or characters? Is it akin to ‘whatever’ or ‘it’s all good’? Does it mean that anyone can take this beloved comedy in any way they’d like? Can you empathize equally with the folks who smother their grief by partying and the siblings who each believe they’ve just lost their twin in a shipwreck? Can the cis-gender count be in love with the boy page (who is a woman) even while he believes her to be a boy? Yes, he can. And yes, you can. 

“…the spectator plays the part of co-protagonist. This role is inscribed in the text, beginning with Shakespeare’s gesture in the play’s second title of leaving the responsibility to the audiences.” (Keir Elam, editor, The Arden Shakespeare Twelfth Night, 2008). As Shakespeare’s most audience-aware play, we are complicit in the main action. We witness a sextet of hopeful, baffled, emotionally shipwrecked (and in some cases grieving) would-be lovers. And we witness the behind-the-scenes deception that results in the torment of a character who (arguably) has earned a comeuppance. We’re encouraged to take part in it. Do we take pleasure in our spectatorship? Absolutely. Do we feel a pang of shame when it goes a step too far? I hope so. Just as I hope that you root for Viola as she circumnavigates her way to a new life filled with love, grace, and hope.

Gender identity is at the center of a too-fractious dialogue in our state, country, and schools. Over 400 years ago, Shakespeare embraced and celebrated the notion that love is love is love is love is love. As you journey through our Twelfth Night, I invite you to revel in the risk and liberation of sharing one’s whole self in the bright light of day from your darkened seat in a theater. 

By Shelley Delaney, Director

Land Acknowledgement

We, The School Of Theater and Tantrum Theater, acknowledge that, from the time of Ohio University’s founding in 1804, it has occupied the traditional homelands of the Shawnee people, as well as the Wahzhazhe (who are also known as the Osage), who lived in Southeast Ohio before them. As the first federally legislated public university in the United States of America, Ohio University was an integral part of the U.S.’s westward expansion and empire building. 

Welcome to Tantrum Theater’s production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or What You Will. Shakespeare’s most musical play, Twelfth Night is a comedy which uses music to blend themes of love, loss, gender, and mistaken identity after a shipwreck on the coast of Illyria. The play is so musical in fact that the line “If music be the food of love, play on” is spoken at the beginning of our second scene. The subtitle Or What You Will hints at the comedy in the play, embodied by some of Shakespeare’s greatest comic characters, Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Malvolio, who’s name mean “ill will” in Italian. Hijinx ensue!

We are thrilled to welcome Shelley Delaney* as Director of this production. Shelley was a long-time member of the Ohio University School of Theater (SOT) faculty, a life-long lover of Shakespeare, and lead the performance program for many years. Shelley brought to us two wonderful guest artists, Chivas Michael* and Sam Parrot* both from New York City. Supporting our production is a creative team of veteran faculty, Tantrum professional guest artists (*), School of Theater Alumni (+) and students: Megan Culley*+, Composer and Sound Designer (coming back to Athens from New York City), Andrew Krag*, Sound Engineer, Devin Sudman*, Music Director, second year graduate student Hannah Carey, Scenic Designer, and long-time SOT faculty members C. David Russell, Costume Designer, and Michael Lincoln, Lighting Designer. Tying the whole production together will be Production Stage Manager Leslie Boyden* coming to us from Philadelphia, Jaxon Meadows+, Technical Director, Carly Huff, Scenic Charge Artist, and Grace Easterday, Props Lead. 

We’d also like to welcome new members in Tantrum’s leadership! Roberto DiDonato+ has accepted a promotion to be the new Producing Director for Tantrum, taking over for Josh Coy who will continue to work with Tantrum in his new role as Executive Director of Arts Partnerships and Programming in the College of Fine Arts, and Ellie Clark+ returns to SOT as a new faculty member in performance and Associate Artistic Director for Tantrum!

In March 2024, Tantrum will present 9 to 5, the Musical, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, created in 2008 and based on a 1980 movie of the same name. 

Continuing Tantrum educational offerings include a production by the Athens Middle School Drama Club March 24 & 25 at Arts West. Watch for summer 2024 theater camp opportunities, which will be available at www.ohio.edu/fine-arts/tantrum-theater/education

 We’re in the process of selecting next year’s offerings and we look forward to continuing opportunities for conversation, collaboration, and inspiration. 

Thank you for joining us! 

Michael Lincoln                               Josh Coy     

Artistic Director                               Executive Director of Arts Partnerships and Programming 

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Tantrum Theater is proud to have the support from the following sponsors, without whose support, this performance would not have been possible: The National Endowment for the Arts , The Ohio Arts Council, Ohio Humanities, College of Fine Arts Community Fund

HOW TO REACH US

Tantrum Theater 

19 South College Street

1 Ohio University

Athens, Ohio  45701

740.593.4818

Email: [email protected]

FIRE NOTICE

Illuminated signs above each door indicate
emergency exits. Please check for the nearest
exit. In the event of an emergency, you will be
notified by theater personnel and assisted in
the evacuation of the building.

SEATING POLICY 

Everyone must have a ticket. Sorry, no
children in arms or on laps. Patrons who
leave the theater during the performance
will be reseated at the discretion of house
management. Those who become disruptive
will be asked to leave the theater.

ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES

The Forum Theater in The Radio and Television Building is
fully accessible to those with mobility issues.
When booking tickets, please let our Box
Office know if you require a ticket that will
accommodate a wheelchair. Please call Ledger
Free, Director of Audience Services, at 917-
733-0081 if you need any assistance during
your visit. We are here to help you!