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Education Pack

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Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3

Section 1: Shakespeare and the Original Twelfth Night ..................................................... 4

William Shakespeare 1564 - 1616 ...................................................................................... 5

Elizabethan and Jacobean Theatre ..................................................................................... 6

Section 2: The Watermill’s Production of Twelfth Night .................................................. 10

A Brief Synopsis .............................................................................................................. 11

Character Map ................................................................................................................ 13

1920s and Twelfth Night.................................................................................................. 14

Meet the Cast ................................................................................................................. 16

Actor’s Blog .................................................................................................................... 20

Two Shows, One Set ........................................................................................................ 24

Rehearsal Diary ............................................................................................................... 26

Rehearsal Reports ........................................................................................................... 28

Section 3: Teaching & Rehearsal Exercises ...................................................................... 29

Character Mapping ......................................................................................................... 30

Emotional Corridor .......................................................................................................... 31

Credits ............................................................................................................................ 32

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Introduction

This pack has been designed to support your visit to The Watermill and on tour to watch our

production of Twelfth Night.

Your feedback is most welcome, please email outreach@watermill.org.uk or call me on 01635

570927.

Don’t forget that we offer workshops on most aspects of drama, and visit schools to work with

students and teachers. For an education brochure, please visit the Outreach pages on our website,

or contact us.

We hope you find the pack useful.

Heidi Bird

Outreach Director

Email: heidi@watermill.org.uk | Tel: 01635 570927

The Watermill Theatre

Bagnor, Newbury, Berks RG20 8AE

www.watermill.org.uk

www.watermill.org.uk/education_packs This pack was written and designed by Abigail Pickard Price with contributions from Beth Flintoff and Poppy Jermaine. The Principal Sponsor of Twelfth Night is Sheepdrove Organic Farm and Eco-Conference Centre and the UK Tour Sponsor is Neal’s Yard Remedies. The Sackler Trust, Principal Supporter of The Watermill’s core Education and Outreach programme. Rehearsal photos by Philip Tull. Production photos by Scott Rylander.

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Section 1: Shakespeare and the Original Twelfth Night

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William Shakespeare 1564 - 1616

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon to John Shakespeare, a glove maker and wool merchant, and Elizabeth Arden, the daughter of a wealthy farmer and landowner. It is believed that he was educated locally at King Edward VI Grammar School. During the 1550s there was a growing trend for nobles to patronise travelling companies who would visit Shakespeare’s hometown to perform at the Grammar School while on tour: there are records of more than 30 visits between 1568 and 1597. Shakespeare was four years old when these records started and his father is likely to have been responsible for his first exposure to theatre. John Shakespeare became a central figure in Stratford-upon-Avon when he was appointed as the town Bailiff. One of his responsibilities was to license the performances of these travelling companies by watching previews to check they were appropriate for public viewing. It is likely that William would have attended these previews. The next surviving record is of his marriage to 26 year-old Anne Hathaway at the age of 18 in 1582. Their daughter, Susannah, was born 6 months after their wedding. Two years later, Anne gave birth to twins, Judith and Hamnet, but Hamnet died at the age of 11. Records of his movements are unclear in the eight years following, but during this time he left his family in Stratford to begin establishing himself in the world of theatre in London. The reason for these ‘lost years’ is uncertain; but playwriting was not a respected form of literature so authors chose not to put their names to plays, and it may be that Shakespeare was writing during this time but without putting a name to his work. In 1592 his name reappears in a sour judgement made by dramatist Robert Greene on his deathbed, calling him ‘an upstart crow,

beautified with our feathers’ in reference to his lack of university education which made him an impostor among the more qualified playwrights of the time. The Queen’s Men, Queen Elizabeth I’s travelling company, had been set up in 1583 and caused a decline in other playing companies because it brought together the country’s leading actors. But an attempt was made to redress this in 1594 with a major reshuffle of actors, forming a duopoly of the Lord Admiral’s Men and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the latter of which Shakespeare became a member. The Chamberlain’s Men were the resident company at a venue simply called ‘The Theatre’ in Shoreditch, and by August 1597 Shakespeare had become a shareholder in the business together with Richard Burbage and others. This new role afforded him the second largest house in Stratford – New Place. In 1599 The Theatre’s lease ran out and the structure was dismantled and moved across the River Thames to Southwark, where it became The Globe Theatre. The Globe opened with one of Shakespeare’s plays, most likely Henry V or As You Like It, and Shakespeare’s works continued to bring success and profit to the theatre, enjoyed by thousands. The Globe was one of only three theatres granted the privilege of licensing its own plays and the company’s success awarded them a patent from James I following his accession to the throne in 1603, when they became known as The King’s Men. The company took on a 21-year-lease of The Blackfriars, an indoor theatre that opened in 1610 with another of Shakespeare’s plays: The Tempest. Two years later, Shakespeare returned to Stratford, retiring from theatre to live out his remaining years with his family in the comfort of New Place, until he died in 1616. The cause

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of his death is a mystery, but it seems he drank away his last hours in the company of his fellow writers, Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton. The vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon noted in his diary that they ‘had a merry meeting and it seems drank too hard for Shakespeare died of a fever there contracted’. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-on-Avon on April 25 1616. Many people consider him the world’s greatest playwright, but he was also a skilled poet and actor. In 1623 his works were published as a collection, known as ‘The First Folio.’ Among them are a number of plays regarded as the greatest works in the English language. From histories, to comedies, to

tragedies, the plays reflected the concerns and widespread social and cultural change in the period. Shakespeare played a key role in the rise of theatre-going in Elizabethan and Jacobean England: and as a result shaped theatre and performance culture as we know it today. POPPY JERMAINE Sources The Shakespearean Stage 1574-1642 by Andrew Gurr Shakespeare Survey, Volume 60: Theatres for Shakespeare by J. R. Mulryne The Oxford Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet Oxford World Classics

Top left: Viola (Rebecca Lee). Bottom left: Malvolio (Peter Duke), Aguecheek (Mike Slader), Toby Belch

(Lauryn Redding), Maria (Victoria Blunt). Right: Sebastian (Stuart Wilde) and Olivia (Aruhan Galieva).

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Elizabethan and Jacobean Theatre Beth Flintoff takes a look at the theatrical world in which Shakespeare was writing.

At the beginning of the Sixteenth Century, ‘theatre’ consisted of ordinary people enjoying plays about the Bible, performed by actors who travelled across the country with their props and costumes in a wagon. Although the plays were enjoyed, travelling ‘players’ were generally treated with great suspicion – they were no better than ‘rogues and vagabonds.’ At the time working men always had a master - if a poor man did not have a master it meant he was, effectively, a beggar. Actors would have seemed dangerously free of all masters. There was even an Act of Parliament called the ‘Act for the Punishment of Vagabonds’. But the perception of theatre was, gradually, changing. Rich and powerful people were beginning to enjoy the feeling of providing entertainment to their friends, and plays were a great way of doing this. They were basically showing off – when people visited, the host could impress them by having a play performed. For example, King Henry VII’s household of servants included twelve trumpeters and a small group of actors who were able to sing and dance as well as perform plays. This was a time of constant rivalry over who should be King, and who was the most influential. So professional actors, hired by these rich and powerful men, were paid to demonstrate to rivals just how important their family was. It must have been a bit of a relief for these actors to have some support and a more stable way of earning a living. Up until now, most drama in Britain had been performed in the open air, sometimes in courtyards in front of inns. But now, enterprising actors began to make theatre buildings and to set up companies of fellow actors to perform in them. The first person to

do this was an actor who was also a carpenter, called James Burbage. His two sons, Richard and Cuthbert Burbage, took on the family tradition after he died. Theatre was becoming extremely popular by now, but some important people were still very suspicious of the whole thing. Religious men, upset that plays were so much more popular than going to Church, described them as ‘beastly’ and ‘filthy’. Plays were often banned or got into trouble for making comments that were seen as subversive. Writing in a negative way about the monarchy in the time of Queen Elizabeth I or James I was an extremely dangerous thing to do and it was common for artists to get into trouble or performances be shut down. The Burbage brothers were running a theatre in London when they had an argument with the authorities. In the end the argument got so bad that they took the whole theatre apart in the middle of the night and carried it, piece by piece, across a bridge to the other side of the Thames. Once over the river, they were safely outside the law of the London authorities, and could carry on without their permission. This theatre was the Globe, where the most famous playwright of them all worked: William Shakespeare. We don’t know all that much for certain about William Shakespeare, but we do know that he was married to a woman called Ann Hathaway who lived in Stratford-upon-Avon where he grew up, and he had three children. He spent most of his time not with his wife but in London, and he wrote at least 37 plays – though we’re still not sure exactly who wrote some of the plays that have been attributed to him. Some scholars argue that he didn’t actually write any of the plays at all.

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What makes Shakespeare and his work different to that of other playwrights? As a member of the acting company, Shakespeare would have been writing specifically for his fellow actors – they were probably his friends. He must have had great faith in their ability because his plays are not written for one starring actor with supporting cast, but for lots of actors who could all understand intense and complicated characterisation. There would have been no women in the cast – the female roles were all played by boys. This didn’t seem to bother Shakespeare in the slightest and he wrote plenty of great female parts – so he must have thought the boys were very good. If he had written in an obvious way about the politics of the time, he would have got into trouble, so he wrote about historical events or fictional characters in such a way that the audience could have easily guessed what he was talking about. They needed to make enough money at the theatre, making it important that his plays were popular, so he couldn’t just write tragedies or comedies – he wrote both. And he mostly wrote his plays in verse – not rhyming poetry, but a sequence of lines with a distinct rhythm, which helps the audience to follow what’s being said and adds an extra layer of magic, a feeling of specialness to what we are hearing. Like this, when Othello dies: I kissed thee ere I killed thee: no way but this,

Killing myself, to die upon a kiss. Othello [V.ii.356-7]

These are some of the things that made the plays of Shakespeare so remarkable. He created characters that we can still understand today, and he gave them things to say that still, when we hear them now, can seem astonishingly beautiful one moment, hilarious the next. He created characters that are warm, funny, complicated, cruel, romantic, obsessed - you name it, he wrote it ... For example, Romeo and Juliet has really

changed the way we view romantic love today – the idea of people performing extravagant gestures, of sacrificing everything they have, and even dying for their love, these ideas had never been so clearly set down before, and probably haven’t since. Nowadays, Shakespeare is taught in schools not just in England but all around the world, and performed in hundreds of different languages. Many of the everyday words and phrases we use now, such as ‘advertise’ and ‘lonely’ were invented by him. There were, of course, other plays and playwrights working at the same time as Shakespeare. In fact the playwright Christopher Marlowe, who wrote plays such as Doctor Faustus and Edward II, was much better known at the time. Faustus is a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for having whatever he wants for twenty five years. He says the famous line: ‘Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?’ when he meets the beautiful Helen of Troy for the first time. As the twenty five years comes to an end, of course, he begins to regret his pact and the play ends with him being tragically carried away to hell. Christopher Marlowe is thought to have been a spy for Francis Walsingham, the head of Queen Elizabeth’s secret service. He was killed in a fight in a pub, but many suspect that this was actually a cover-up for an assassination. His room-mate was the unfortunate playwright Thomas Kyd, who was arrested and tortured by the authorities for information about Marlowe. It was a dark time for these playwrights and their plays reflected that darkness. Thomas Kyd wrote the first ‘Revenge Tragedy’, called The Spanish Tragedy. Revenge Tragedies were dramas in which a terrible injustice happens at the start of the play, and the hero has to get revenge. In these plays, violent and frightening things happen to the characters and the events are often pretty gory. For example, The Revenger’s Tragedy, by Thomas Middleton, begins with the hero standing on

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stage holding the skull of his poisoned girlfriend. He revenges himself on the murderer, a Duke, by dressing up the skull in a coat, putting poison on the skull’s lips, and pretending that she is a woman the Duke would like to kiss. The Duke does indeed kiss the skull, and he dies. These stories seem extraordinarily gruesome until you realise that similar stories are still being written today and are extremely

popular: films like Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, or Mel Gibson’s Ransom, and many horror films are in the revenge style, first written over four hundred years ago. Difficult, turbulent and dangerous times they may have been for actors and writers, but that didn’t stop them from creating some extraordinary works of art. BETH FLINTOFF

Cast of Twelfth Night

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Section 2: The Watermill’s Production of Twelfth Night

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A Brief Synopsis

In the early 1920s, we see a kingdom still recovering from the World War One, Illyria. Illyria is ruled by the noble Duke Orsino who we meet in his jazz club – The Elephant. Surrounding himself with musicians, Orsino pines for the love of the Lady Olivia. His messenger returns from fruitlessly wooing Olivia for him; reporting that Olivia cannot love him, that for the next seven years she will be mourning for her dead brother and will not entertain any proposals of marriage. Meanwhile, off the coast of Illyria there is a shipwreck. Viola has been swept up on the shore, as has, unbeknown to Viola, her twin brother Sebastian; each finds themselves on this strange island, and thinks the other is dead. Viola begins to explore the island. She hopes to work for Olivia however learns that Olivia is refusing to admit strangers into her home. Viola decides to disguise herself as a man, take on the name of Cesario and work in the household of Duke Orsino. We meet the other people resident in Olivia’s home. Her “uncle” Sir Toby Belch; her friend the foolish knight Sir Andrew Aguecheek who hopes to seek the hand of Olivia; Malvolio, the steward; Olivia’s gentle-woman, Maria, and Feste, the fool who has just returned after the war. Viola, disguised as Cesario, joins Orsino’s other musicians in The Elephant and very quickly becomes a favourite of Orsino. Viola has also begun to fall in love with Orsino. In her disguise as a man, she finds herself unable to persue this love. Orsino sends Cesario to deliver his love messages to Olivia. However, the plan does not go as hoped when Olivia falls for Cesario.

We find ourselves in a tricky love triangle: Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario. Sebastian, Viola’s twin brother, has made a new friend on Illyria - Antonia – who has protected and cared for him since the shipwreck. The pair speak in hushed words at The Elephant and Sebastian explains the loss of his sister to Antonia. Antonia is an enemy of Orsino. Despite the danger she is putting herself in, she makes the decision to follow Sebastian as he makes his way to the court of Orsino. In Olivia’s household Malvolio is constantly trying to maintain control of the residents. Toby Belch and her friend Andrew are continually stumbling into the house drunk, staying up late and making a raucous noise which Malvolio cannot abide. They take offence at this constant control and decide to plot a practical joke against Malvolio. Maria forges a letter from Olivia addressed to her ‘beloved’, telling him that to earn her love he should smile constantly, dress in yellow stockings and argue with Toby. Much to Maria, Toby, Andrew and Feste’s delight Malvolio finds the letter and, filled with dreams of nobility through marrying Olivia, makes the correct assumption that it is addressed to him. This leads him to behave in such a way that Olivia believes him to be mad. Sir Andrew, who desperately hopes to win the love of Olivia, has observed the attraction Olivia appears to have for Cesario and is persuaded to challenge Cesario to a duel. Sir Toby seizes upon this idea thinking it could provide some amusement and therefore does his best to encourage Andrew. When the duel

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commences both Cesario and Andrew are fearful. Antonia, mistaking Cesario for Sebastian, steps in to protect Cesario but is arrested by Orsino’s officers. As she is taken away Antonia begs Cesario for help. This instils in Cesario newfound hope that her brother might be alive. During all this confusion, Olivia meets Sebastian and, thinking that he is Cesario, asks him to marry her. Sebastian goes along with this and the two marry. Malvolio’s supposed madness has led to him being locked away to help him recover. This provides much entertainment for Maria, Toby and Feste. The fool dresses up as a priest, “Sir Topas”, and pretends to examine Malvolio, concluding that he is definitely insane. Witnessing Malvolio’s despair, the trio start to think better of their cruelty

and allow the ‘madman’ to send a letter to Olivia asking to be released. In the final scene in this confused kingdom Viola, disguised as Cesario, and Orsino visit Olivia’s house. On their arrival, Olivia greets Cesario as her new husband thinking him to be Sebastian whom she has just married. Orsino’s fury at this is rapidly calmed when Sebastian appears and the mistaken identity is revealed; the twins are reunited. As Viola is revealed as a woman, Orsino realises that he is in love with Viola and asks her to marry him. As the couples are happily united attention turns to Malvolio. The trick is revealed in full to Olivia and he is released from his jail, vowing revenge.

Left: Aguecheek (Mike Slader) and Sir Toby Belch (Lauryn Redding). Right: Viola (Rebecca Lee) and Feste (Offue Okegbe)

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Character Map

Olivia

In mourning for the

recent death of her

father and brother. Falls

in love with Cesario, not

knowing it’s Viola in

disguise, and eventually

marries Sebastian.

Maria

Olivia’s lady maid who

manipulates Malvolio

and falls in love with Sir

Toby Belch.

Sir Andrew Aguecheek

Sir Toby Belch’s foolish

friend who hopes to

woo Olivia.

Sir Toby Belch

Olivia’s cousin. A heavy

drinker, doesn’t like

conforming to the rules

of Olivia’s household.

Feste

Olivia’s fool who returns

back to the household

after much time away.

Malvolio

Olivia’s steward who

does not approve of the

raucous havoc Toby

Belch causes in the

house.

Orsino

Duke who rules over Illyria.

Desperate to win Olivia’s hand

in marriage.

Viola ‘Cesario’

A young woman of

nobility who is

shipwrecked and gets

washed up in Illyria and

separated from her twin

brother. Disguises

herself as Cesario to

assume a role in

Orsino’s court and

quickly falls in love with

the Duke.

Sebastian

Viola’s twin who is

washed up on the

shores of Illyria and

rescued by Antonia.

Antonia

One of Illyria’s “most

wanted” she must avoid

the streets for fear of

being caught. She

rescues Sebastian from

the shipwreck.

Twins, each believe

the other is dead

Serves Orsino

in court

Hoping to win her love

Friends

Rescues from the

shipwreck

Olivia’s fool

In love? Lady maid Steward

Suitor

Marries

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1920s and Twelfth Night This production has been set in the early 1920s but how does this work for Shakespeare’s 16th Century story? The 1920s were often referred to as the ‘Roaring Twenties’ or the ‘Jazz Age’ in North America whilst in Europe, a continent experiencing an economic boom following World War I, you hear it being referred to as the ‘Golden Age Twenties’ or ‘années folles’ in France, which translates as ‘Crazy Years’. All these names point to one thing – an era that was experiencing artistic, social and cultural dynamism. Though the war tore the world apart, for many industries it proved profitable. Manufacturers who supplied goods for the war had prospered. As a result, many people who were invested in these industries were experiencing a new wealthier life. Consequently, Jazz clubs and cocktail bars sprung up in cities, music and alcohol infested everyone’s lives - these methods of escapism were embraced wholeheartedly by the younger generation. Paul Hart has set The Watermill’s production of Twelfth Night in the 1920s. With a company of vibrant younger actors, this total escapism has been embraced. Orsino’s opening line “If music be the food of love, play on” is just one example of how music is used as an expression of emotion. Jazz was a new form of music in this period – tune after tune was being made and played. Popular musicians of the time include the likes of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. This music spread and started to manifest itself in music used by marching bands and dance bands of the day. It became the main form of popular concert music in the early twentieth century.

Using music as a form of entertainment is at the very heart of this production of Twelfth Night. The actor-musicians along with Musical Director, Ned Rudkins-Stow, have created a world in which characters are suddenly transported into a cabaret. It is here, using the song and the setting, that they are free to express their true selves – Viola divulges her secret plan to us, Sir Toby transports us back to a time long forgot when perhaps she was a cabaret star herself and Malvolio reveals the biggest secret of all…. Prohibition - the ban on alcohol in the 1920s led to the emergence of illicit places that sold alcohol, often known as Speakeasies. These started out small but grew to expand into clubs that featured musicians and dancers. It is in this style of a club, where people could both hide out and party to extremes, that the play is set. Following the First World War, the 1920s didn’t just lead to a time of extravagancies but also a time of adjustment. Families were torn apart and the younger generation were left to look after themselves and create a new world. This translates extremely well into the setting of Twelfth Night. We learn in the opening scene that Olivia is mourning the loss of her father and brother and has been left to manage the household alone. After the First World War many women were left alone, having lost husbands or sons. Placing Twelfth Night in this setting only serves to heighten the sudden loss that Olivia is experiencing.

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Similarly, the first time we see Feste, Maria comments on the fact he has been absent from the house for so long – in this production it’s been decided that Feste went to war and was presumed to be dead. The concept of courage is talked about a lot in the play, most particularly in reference to Sir Andrew who is forever making grand gestures before backing out. This leads Sir Toby and Feste to

encourage him to fight with Cesario for their own amusement. The white feather was a symbol of cowardice during the war. In this production Feste carries one with him, giving it to Sir Andrew to encourage his fight with Cesario. Illyria is a country where confusion is rife, escapism through music and beauty much desired and a fight to be at the top of the pack a constant battle.

Cast of Twelfth Night.

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Meet the Cast

Victoria Blunt Maria Victoria graduated from The Oxford School of Drama in 2015. Prior to training she toured extensively across Europe and Asia. Theatre includes: Understudy to Katherine Parkinson and Emily Berrington in Dead Funny (West End), Benvolio in Romeo + Juliet (The Watermill), The Princess of France in Love’s Labour’s Lost (Oxford Shakespeare Company) and various roles in Once Upon A Christmas (Unicorn Theatre). Victoria is delighted to be returning to The Watermill to work on two of her favourite plays.

Peter Dukes Malvolio Training: Guildford School of Acting. Theatre includes: Cover Georg/Kodaly in She Loves Me (Menier Chocolate Factory); Bela Zangler in Crazy For You (The Watermill); William Hare in Burke and Hare (Cheltenham Everyman Studio); Launce/Thurio in The Two Gentleman of Verona (Changeling Theatre Company); Richard Greatham in Hay Fever (Changeling Theatre Company); Duke Senior in Sonnet Walk (Guildford Shakespeare Company); Cover Reyer/Don Atillio/Buquet in Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre); Richard/Mr Budge in Run! (Polka Theatre); White Knight/Cover Arbiter in Chess (UK Tour & Princess of Wales, Toronto); Gentleman Starkey/Cover Hook/Fight Captain in Peter Pan (Mayflower/Grand Canal Theatre); Cover Rolf/Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music (UK No.1 Tour); Porthos/Fight Captain in The Three Musketeers, Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility, Algernon in Importance of Being Earnest (Jenny Wren Productions); Trotter in Journey’s End (Electric Theatre); Pirate/Policeman in Pirates of Penzance (Kilworth House); Steve Edwards in Babes in Arms (Union Theatre); Various in Duck Tales (The Playground); Peddler/Bryce/Kimble/James in Silas Marner (Workshop); Kevin in Douze Points (Workshop); Prince Charming in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Aladdin (Yvonne Arnaud); Chess in Concert (Royal Albert Hall); A Night of a Thousand Stars (Marlowe Theatre). Film includes: Michael, Festen; Nazi Sentry, Benjamin’s Struggle; Chris, Tainted

Wings.

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Aruhan Galieva Olivia Theatre includes: Two Gentlemen Of Verona (The Globe / Tour); Bakkhai

(Almeida Theatre); King John (The Globe); Romeo + Juliet (NYT Repertory

Company); Tory Boyz, Prince Of Denmark (Ambassadors Theatre); Chimera

(Wildworks); Pigeon English (Bristol Old Vic); Folk Contraption (Rogues Gallery

Theatre); The Oracle (National Youth Theatre).

Television includes: Glasgow Girls (BBC 3); Whitechapel (Carnival Films).

Film includes: Anna Karenina (Studio Canal); Aquarium (BFI Future Film);

Coalition Fangirls (Roundhouse Film Fund).

Rebecca Lee Viola Rebecca graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2015. Her roles at Guildhall include Celia Cain in Her Naked Skin, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls. She has since worked in Theatre, TV and Film and is about to appear in the BBC biopic of Barbara Windsor's life which airs in April. She made her debut appearance in film in 'The First Man', out later this year, an adaptation one of Eugene O'Neill's early plays. Whilst Rebecca was studying at the University of Manchester she appeared in Punchdrunk's It Felt Like A Kiss at the Manchester International Festival. Rebecca is delighted to be returning to The Watermill this summer to perform Twelfth Night and Romeo + Juliet.

Emma McDonald Antonia Theatre includes: Much Ado About Nothing (Iris Theatre); Pride and Prejudice

(The Crucible, Sheffield); Antigone, Tribes (The Nottingham New Theatre);

Salome (St Marylebone School Theatre); Lysistrata (Lakeside Arts Centre);

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Gut Girls, Stags and Hens (The

Nottingham New Theatre); Jerusalem (The Nottingham New Theatre and NSDF);

Bugsy Malone (Jasspa Youth Theatre); Anything Goes, Half A Sixpence (St

Marylebone School Theatre); Oliver (Charter School Theatre); The Merchant of

Venice (The Globe Theatre with The Charter School); The Comedy of Errors (Fine

Frenzy Theatre Company with The Nottingham New Theatre); The Crucible

(Charter School Theatre); Twelfth Night (Unicorn Theatre – Shakespeare Schools

Festivals); Little Shop of Horrors (Lakeside Arts Centre); Teechers (St Marylebone

Theatre and Jasspa Youth Theatre).

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Offue Okegbe Feste Offue trained at LAMDA. Theatre credits include: Horatio in Hamlet (Black Theatre Company); Henry V (The Unicorn); Alice In Wonderland (Bolton); Amiens in As You Like It (UK Tour/Shakespeare At The Tobacco Factory); Miguel in Children of Fate (Inside Intelligence/Bussey Building); Witch in Hansel and Gretel (Queens Theatre Hornchurch); Mardian in Antony and Cleopatra (Chichester Festival Theatre); Jimmy in For Jimmy (Intraverse Productions); Malcolm in Macbeth (Custom/Practice); Kid Brother in Invasion! (Tooting Arts Club); Big Brother in Playlist: Christmas - The Riddler (Theatre 503); Mardian in Antony and Cleopatra (Liverpool Playhouse); Garveyite/Student in Big White Fog (Almeida Theatre). Workshops/readings include: Threshold (Collective Artistes); The New Voice of Home (AFTA conference) Let Me Go and Children of Fate (Inside Intelligence) Other credits include: Paul in Six Degrees of Separation (Tower Theatre); John Proctor in The Crucible and Sir Fopling Flutter in The Man of Mode (Brighton Dome Youth Theatre/Inservice Productions).

Lauryn Redding Sir Toby Belch Lauryn trained at Rose Bruford College. She is very pleased to be back at The Watermill Theatre. Theatre credits include: Horrible Christmas (Lowry Theatre); Frankenstien (Salisbury Playhouse); Peter Pan In Scarlet (New Vic Theatre); Romeo + Juliet (The Watermill); Dreamers (Oldham Coliseum); Tall Tales (Theatr Clywd); Comedy Of Errors (Shakespeare’s Globe); Horrible Histories – Awful Egyptians (Birmingham Stage); King Lear (Red Rose Chain); Shhh (Theatre503); Wind In The Willows (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Numb (Arcola); Six (SevenArts Leeds); The Enough Project (Slung Low / DepArts); Horrible Histories – Barmy BRITAIN (Birmingham Stage, UK Tour and Australian Tour); An August Bank Holiday Lark and She Stoops To Conquer, A Winter’s Tale (Northern Broadsides); Alice Underground (Les Enfants Terribles - site specific production in the Vaults of Waterloo Station). Television credits include: Emmerdale (YTV); Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show (BBC); Channel 4 Pilot Regulars (Silver River Productions). Lauryn has also worked on a number of short film and radio productions.

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Jamie Satterthwaite Orsino Theatre includes: The Spanish Tragedy (The Old Red Lion); The Duchess of Malfi (Nottingham Playhouse); Posh (Nottingham & Salisbury Playhouse); The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd (The Orange Tree Theatre); Edward II (Royal National Theatre); The Laramie Project, The Life and Adventures of Nickolas Nickleby, Measure For Measure, Company (GSMD); The Revenger’s Tragedy (Picklock). Film includes: Charismata (HydraFilmsRKM); Toy Men (Pinpoint Films); Monsters In The Dark (Mordue Pictures); Shopping Channels (Pinpoint Films). Television includes: Mr Selfridge (ITV).

Mike Slader Aguecheek Since graduating Rose Bruford in 2009 Mike has toured round the UK with shows, jukebox musicals, and gigging with various bands. Theatre credits include: Frankenstein (Salisbury Playhouse); Rock Pantos - Aladdin (Stafford Gatehouse); Romeo + Juliet (The Watermill); Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood (City Varieties Music Hall); Dreamboats & Miniskirts (UK Tour); Delirium Show 6 (Workshop, St James Theatre); Dick Whittington (City Varieties, Leeds); Carnaby Street in Concert (UK Tour); Tiny Tempest (Brighton Dome); Dave in Carnaby Street (UK Tour); Derek in Dreamboats & Petticoats (UK Tour); Ovid's Metamorphoses (Pleasance Dome); On the Third Day (The Mill Studios); Close (The Cockpit Theatre); Grimethorpe Race (The Arcola Theatre); Twelfth Night (UK Tour); The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dr Faustus (Chichester Festival Theatre). Other work includes: Cruzier (Short Film); HTC Online Phone (Commercial); Who Is In Control (Photography Stills).

Stuart Wilde Sebastian Stuart trained at the National Youth Theatre rep company. Theatre includes Private Peaceful (NYT) for which he was nominated for Leading Actor at the Broadway World UK Awards; Selfie, Macbeth (all NYT); John Webster in Shakespeare In Love (West End) and Romeo in Romeo + Juliet (The Watermill). Most recently Stuart can be seen as young tank soldier Pritchard in the highly anticipated EA Dice video game Battlefield 1. Stuart is delighted to return to The Watermill for the 50th birthday celebrations.

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Actor’s Blog Aruhan Galieva talks to us about becoming Olivia.

Hello! My name is Aruhan (Ru). I am an Actor-Musician playing Olivia in

Twelfth Night, and Juliet in Romeo + Juliet. Working at The Watermill is the best job I have ever done. When I found out I had got the job, I was immediately overwhelmed with fear; two shows, two complex and amazing characters – it’s mammoth! In the weeks approaching rehearsals I kept repeating a negative mantra in my head: “I have no idea what I’m doing, I have no idea what I’m doing, I have no idea…” and I had some serious first day of school nerves the night before we started rehearsals. Little did I know that the rehearsal period was going to be the most authentically creative, playful and fun process I’ve ever had the pleasure of being involved in. Our incredible Director, Paul Hart, has managed to assemble a fantastic company of actors and creatives who are genuinely lovely, talented team players and from day one, the rehearsal room felt like a really safe and open space to explore the text and the world of the play. I quickly realised that my terrible mantra of “I have no idea what I’m doing” was completely absurd. Rehearsals are supposed to be a place where you can be bold, be brave and make mistakes without judgement. This atmosphere means you are constantly able to try new things until you get it right.

Aruhan in rehearsals

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The first week began with a table read through. A read through can often be very intellectual, long drawn out affair where we mull over the text, use of language, iambic pentameter, feminine ending, 12 line endings, use of alliteration, rhymes, syllables, prose, verse and double meanings. All of these elements are fantastic and crucial, but can be quite intimidating for actors, like myself, who don’t necessarily have a lot of academic prowess. What made this read through exciting was that firstly, there were no tables in sight. Yay, tables are boring! Secondly, Paul and Abigail (she’s our brilliant Associate Director) were really fantastic about getting us on our feet to make sure we understood what we were saying. They also helped us find a perfect balance of honouring the text and technique of delivery, without us feeling like we couldn’t play around with the script. In this first table read, Paul set up a very collaborative atmosphere and we all agreed on the context of the world of the play:

The play is Twelfth Night

It is set in the 1920s

We are in Illyria

Illyria is a mystical place, but the facts we can agree on are: - It is a sea side town - It can be highly dangerous (especially for unaccompanied women) - There are two very high status families who live there, Countess Olivia and - Duke Orsino

Orsino owns a jazz bar called The Elephant, which is the hottest joint in town. For a musician it's like booking a job at Ronnie Scotts.

It is during the prohibition

The First World War has just finished and a lot of our characters have experienced loss and grief

Olivia has just lost her father and her brother. We agreed upon their names which we decided were Charles (Dad) and Edmund (Brother)

Viola and Olivia have both recently lost their brothers and the play explores the different ways they deal with their grief

Viola assumes a completely different life, whilst Olivia puts her life on hold, hiding herself away from everyone and trying to cling onto the memories of her Father and Brother.

Left: Cast of Twelfth Night rehearsing music. Right: Stuart Wilde and Rebecca Lee.

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Little details like this are so important. Asking questions and being inquisitive is imperative work as actors. Actors must be like detectives and constantly question everything! Here are some questions I have asked myself about Olivia:

Where am I?

What time of day is it?

What is my family background: education, interests, political and religious persuasions?

How old am I?

What do I look like?

What’s my state of physical and mental health?

How do I speak? - Use of language (metaphors, similes, lyrical, plain … monosyllabic) - Do I finish sentences or trail away? - Do I use repetition?

What is my character’s story within the play? I then go onto to think about the wider world of the play and consider the following:

History: economics, politics, political structure, transportation methods, educational trends, employment trends, health services.

Social: widely held beliefs, religious trends, societal and family trends, gender relationships, food and drinking habits, working patterns, hygiene… opportunity!

Culture: music, theatre, film, art, dance, literature, aesthetic, architecture, fashion hairstyles, social rituals and etiquette.

Geography: climate, urbanisation, rural life (we like to joke Olivia’s house is at the top of a really tall cliff and it’s a really steep walk to get to her house so all the servants are absolutely out of puff by the time they arrive to try and get an audience with Olivia.)

After this I then move onto:

The perceived: - What does the character say about him/herself? - What does the character say about others? - What do others say about your character?

Can the truth be discerned from that exercise after comparing what you say to what someone says about you?

How does your character affect each of the other characters? And finally more speculatively asking:

How aware is your character of their weaknesses, strengths, objectives and feelings?

Who would the character like to be?

Who is the character afraid to become?

What does the character do privately/publicly?

Are there inconsistencies between your character’s speech and deeds? If so, why?

If she was an animal what would she be? (I think Olivia’s a lion cub because she is loyal, proud, fierce, she is trying to catch her prey (Cesario) but she’s also young, inexperienced with new found status).

As well as these text related questions I also like to ask myself silly questions like:

What kind of underwear does Olivia wear?

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When was the last time she bought pants!

What does she dream about?

What is the most precious thing she owns?

What is her biggest secret?

What is her worst habit?

If she were an inanimate object what would she be (fridge, spoon, chair?). It can seem so silly but sometimes it can be incredibly insightful and really helpful! Following our discussion about the text, we had a brilliant movement session with our fabulous choreographer, Tom Jackson Greaves. He asked us to draw a picture of our character, enlarging features that we thought would be important. For example, Olivia is high status. I imagined a well-dressed, young woman with a sharp haircut and fantastic posture. We then had to circle one body part our character is most proud of and one where our negative feelings are manifested. I circled my face as my point of pride, as I think Olivia secretly enjoys her youth and beauty and the kudos she gets for it. I chose my lower abdomen as my negative area, as that is where I imagine Olivia feels her grief, loss and desperation but also her lust and love for Cesario! We then walked around the room leading our body with our positive part and then negative, and went from walking around neutrally to going up the scale in severity (1-10). With this drawing in mind, we then explored how our characters would react to different circumstances such as rain, wind, loud music, being drunk, being too hot, being too cold, being relaxed, dancing on our own. Some characters would embrace certain circumstances but for others the same circumstance, such as dancing, was utterly repulsive. At the risk of sounding sycophantic, this rehearsal process has been an incredible experience. Paul, Abbi and all of the actors are so kind, playful, funny, generous, hardworking and wonderfully talented, which makes the whole thing a much easier and enjoyable task! In conclusion, I am sorry that this has been very rambly and long but I hope that perhaps a sentence or two has been helpful! But hey … if ramble be the food of blog, type on ...

Two Shows, One Set Left: Emma McDonald and Stuart Wilde. Right: Victoria Blunt.

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Two Shows, One Set

Designer Katie Lias has a challenge to create a space which works for two shows.

In 2016 Katie designed Romeo + Juliet, a stunning set which creates a world full of fury, war and little comfort. With cold colours, neon lights, scaffolding and hoodies galore there was little to suggest a 1920s jazz bar, yet it is from the basis of this set that she designed Twelfth Night. Whilst the two shows have their initial runs separately at The Watermill, Twelfth Night playing first followed by Romeo + Juliet the two shows will tour together. In some venues one of the productions will be performed in the afternoon, and the other in the evening.

There is one great similarity between the two sets and the worlds in which Paul Hart, director, has decided to place them – the primary location in both cases is a bar. In Romeo + Juliet we are in Capulet’s bar, a place in his home where they party hard and drink to excess. In Twelfth Night we are in The Elephant Jazz Club, Duke Orsino’s home ground. When rehearsals began the decision had been made to set the piece in a jazz club, the name The Elephant came from the very first read through of the script when it was quickly noted that Antonia and Sebastian agree to meet at The Elephant – and so the club was born. Set in the 1920s, with prohibition rife, Katie has made an addition to the set – what started as three arches filled with bottles in Romeo + Juliet has become a clever hideaway for Sir Toby Belch to keep his alcohol. In Twelfth Night instead of the bar at the back we start with a set of three mirrors, which rotate to reveal Sir Toby Belch’s alcohol stash. The aged mirrors within the arches transport us to a time in which things have been left over the course of the war. The decay and debris is added to during the play when the storm sparks roses and petals to fall and cover the stage. The mirrors also serve another important purpose. In Twelfth Night the trap opens to reveal yet more mirrors. In a moment of absolute horror Malvolio is elevated on a mirrored platform, and becomes surrounded by mirrors. He is most on show at exactly the moment he wants to hide.

The Romeo + Juliet model box

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The plush colours and rich fabrics of the twenties in Twelfth Night are rather different to the cold colours and harsh materials of the world of Romeo + Juliet. Katie has draped plush gold fabric over the balcony which will be removed for Romeo + Juliet to reveal the gate out of which Juliet can climb down from the balcony. The two worlds are so incredibly different and yet designer Katie Lias has managed to combine them and play on one set that can quickly be changed to create two very different places.

Twelfth Night model box

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Rehearsal Diary Associate Director, Abigail Pickard Price, gives an insight into the rehearsal process.

WEEK ONE Rehearsals provide a very intense but hugely enjoyable time. The length of time allocated to rehearse a production varies from show to show. For Twelfth Night we have four weeks in the rehearsal studio, followed by four days in the theatre for technical rehearsals. Day one begins with all the creative team and members of staff at The Watermill coming together for the ‘Meet and Greet’. The setup at The Watermill is rather unusual because the creative team and actors rehearse and live onsite. Therefore, the next step of the day is a tour of the site to understand where everyone is living and working. We all meet back in the rehearsal room to listen to Katie Lias (Designer) and Paul Hart (Director) talk us through the set and costumes. They present a ‘model box’, which is a scaled-down version of the set, and pictures of the costume designs. Music is integral to this production and Paul had very specific ideas for the songs and the style of music that he wanted to incorporate into the production. To get us in the mood, he played a selection of the music that would inspire the work. This is followed by a read through of the whole play. My job as an Associate Director is to assist the director to create their vision for the piece. The role can be hugely varied depending on the production and the director. Paul creates a wonderfully collaborative room. Together we explore new ways of discovering the story. During the first week we really delve deep in to the text – we read through each scene and then discuss the endless possibilities that it presents. We question each line to ensure we understand exactly what Shakespeare’s beautiful language means. As we discuss each scene we start to piece together the world in which these characters live:

We continually questioned what Illyria is, where it is and what it means to live there.

We thought about the period of the piece and how this impacts the characters’ lives.

We explored the characters’ relationships with one another. These questions and many others were continually returned to throughout the rehearsal process. The first line in Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most iconic ‘If music be the food of love play on’. On the second day we began to bring this well-known scene to life – embracing the music and the world of Illyria as we had so far discovered it. We found ourselves in a jazz club where Orsino rules, full of musicians desperate to be noticed, who won’t be until they find the perfect love song for Orsino to woe his beloved Olivia. Paul encouraged the actors to take risk and really throw themselves into an idea. With much laughter and singing the scene began to come to life. I am astounded by the talent within the company; the cast are stunning actors with the most fantastic grip on Shakespeare’s text. They are also brilliant musicians. Our first week became a mixture of reading and discussing the text, putting scenes on to their feet and giving them a rough shape. Meanwhile, Ned, our Musical Director, began to piece together the music with the cast. Our Movement Director, Tom, joined us at the end of week one. Tom ran fascinating exercises with the cast, looking at their characters’ physicality. Providing them with a tool

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box of exercises that they can then return to during rehearsal. He then began to look at the choreography of the different musical numbers within the show. WEEK TWO Week two continues in a similar vein as we rotate our time between pulling apart the text, getting the scenes up on their feet, and learning music. As we progress, Paul and Ned find moments for songs – we begin to build on the cabaret club setting and understanding what music means in this world. We discover that for Orsino music is everything and finding that perfect love song for Olivia is the most important thing in his world. In contrast, Olivia’s household music is banned (as you watch the show you will notice there are rather a few people in her household who do not follow this rule). During week two the cast start to have their costume fittings. The Designer, Katie, asks the actors to feed into the costume choice, as they discuss together what they think their character would wear. As fittings continue over the course of rehearsals, costume items slowly started to creep into the rehearsal room, allowing the actors to get a real sense of how their costumes make them feel and how they can move in it. WEEK THREE By the middle of week three, we have a shape of the whole play; it is on its feet and the music has been taught. Now we go back through the whole play, fine tuning and trying to remember everything we have created over the last few weeks. As we all now have a much better understanding of the world and the characters, we often find ourselves questioning our choices in the original stages and begin to make alterations to better tell the story. We reach the end of the play at the end of week three and begin the same exercise again at the start of week four, this time really refining every little detail. WEEK FOUR By the middle of week four we are ready to start running the play. It is at this point that everyone begins to get a real sense of the rhythm of the piece. We spend the rest of our final week running the show several times. After each run Paul and Ned give the actors notes on their performances and the music, giving them small steps on which to build with each run. It is at this point that we head in to the theatre and onto the stage to begin the tech, piecing together every technical element of the show (lights, sound, costume, props, set) in order to create the show that you’ll see on the stage…

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Rehearsal Reports Organisation is the chief element of any stage manager’s role. After each day of rehearsals, our Deputy Stage Manager, Alice Barber, types up the notes she has made during the day and sends them to all the staff at The Watermill involved in making the show. Here is an example of her daily report from Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night Rehearsal Report #9

Date: Wednesday 15th March

General 1. On p 29 we have changed Malvolio’s line from ‘she shall know of it’ to ‘her lady shall know of it’

Design

No notes today. Lighting

1. We require one wireless lamp to be lit on the prop table side of stage throughout. Production/ Technical

No notes today. Risk Assessment

1. Belch (Miss Redding) will throw a small amount of water over Andrew (Mr Slader) as part of the action in 2:2 Set

No notes today. Sound/ Music

1. We will require hard cases for 2 guitars and 1 half sized guitar. 2. We require a second set of drum brushes 3. We will be flying in two float mics to pick up the singing from the Balcony in 2:2 4. Please could we have a double bass bow

Stage Management/Props

1. We require a vodka bottle with some liquid in for Belch (Miss Redding) to be drinking in 2:2 2. Please see Lighting Note 1. 3. We require 2 slices of toast on a plate, 2 champagne glasses and an open bottle of champagne for Orsino (Mr

Satterthwaite) and Viola (Miss Lee) to eat and drink in 2:3 4. Could we please have a table in rehearsals of a similar size to the actual. 5. Please see Wardrobe notes 1 and 2.

Wardrobe

1. Could Malvolio (Mr Dukes) have a crucifix on a necklace that he can wear throughout. 2. It has been suggested that Orsino has a necklace that he wear throughout Act1 and then gives to Olivia in 2:3 3. We require a tablecloth with a hole in it for Belch (Miss Redding) to put her head through in 2:3

Many thanks, Alice Barber Deputy Stage Manager

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Section 3: Teaching & Rehearsal Exercises

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Character Mapping The whole room becomes the ‘heart’ of the play. Put different characters (E.g. Malvolio, Orsino, Toby Belch), played by students, in the centre of the room. Add the other characters one by one into the space. They should stand near or far away from the central character and the other characters, depending on how they feel about them. Start off with the positions for the beginning of the play. Then move to key moments in the play and ask them if they want to move. There may be some conflicts, for example if one character likes the other but the feeling is not reciprocated.

Points:

1. You can hopefully use all the students if you use every character in the play. 2. This exercise makes for a gentle way into hot seating. You can ask them individually

why they’re standing where they are, and how they are feeling about other characters.

3. If they don’t know the plot of the play very well, this can be an interactive way into them finding out the story. Tell them the main points of the story and ask them how they’re feeling now that this new development has happened. They can move in response to what you tell them.

4. Alternatively, this can be a more advanced character exercise. ‘Cast’ the students in advance, and get them to write down quotes demonstrating how their character feels about other characters at key plot moments. Then, when they are moving around the character map, they can back up their new position with their quotations.

FOLLOW UP EXERCISES

1. DIARY: Imagine you’re the character you played in the mapping exercise, and write a diary, with entries for each key moment.

2. FREEZE FRAMES: This is a natural way into ‘sculpting’ frozen pictures of key moments in the play.

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Emotional Corridor The students line up in two rows, facing each other. Give each student about half a line to say, perhaps an oath or a curse, from the play. It’s fine to use each curse two or three times if you don’t have enough. Get them to repeat it a few times to the person opposite them, all at the same time, using lots of anger and venom. Then, one by one, each student walks down the line, with everyone repeatedly saying their curse at the person walking. Afterwards, discuss how it feels to be the object of such dislike. This exercise is particularly useful for invoking empathy in students. Although you might want to start with something straightforward like curses, you can also move into more complex emotions for the play (this exercise is very useful for encouraging students to empathise).

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Credits

Twelfth Night By William Shakespeare

Director Paul Hart Designer Katie Lias Lighting Designer Tom White Sound Designer David Gregory Movement Director Tom Jackson Greaves Music by The Company Arrangements and Musical Direction Ned Rudkins-Stow Associate Director Abigail Pickard Price Fight Director Ian McCracken Maria Victoria Blunt Malvolio Peter Duke Olivia Aruhan Galieva Viola Rebecca Lee Antonia Emma McDonald Feste Offue Okegbe Sir Toby Blech Lauryn Redding Orsino Jamie Satterthwaite Aguecheek Mike Slader Sebastian Stuart Wilde Production Manager Lawrence T Doyle Company Stage Manager Kerrie Driscoll Assistant Production Manager Harry Armytage Theatre Technician Chloe Dougan Deputy Stage Manager Alice Barber Assistant Stage Managers Penny Ayles Alexandra Berridge-Shuter Kirsten Buckmaster Wardrobe Supervisor Amanda Dooley Wardrobe Assistants Eloise Short Sound Operator Ian Penrose Set Construction Belgrade Production Services Rehearsal Photography Philip Tull Production Photographer Scott Rylander National Press and Publicity Jan Ferrer British Sign Language Ana Becker, Lixi Chivas Audio Description William Clancy, Adrienne Pye Tour Production Manager Mark Carey

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Tour Company Stage Manager Ami-Jayne Steele-Childe Tour Assistant Stage Manager Geoff Field Tour Production Carpenter Matt Steele-Childe Tour Wardrobe Mistress Louise Patey Tour Marketing and PR Chloé Nelkin Consulting