teacher`s guide - California Shakespeare Theater

Guide compiled by Trish Tillman
MAY/JUNE 2015
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Jonathan Moscone
Artistic Director
Susie Falk
Managing Director
Clive Worsley
Director of Artistic Learning
Beverly Sotelo
Artistic Learning Programs
Manager
Whitney Grace Krause
Artistic Learning Coordinator
Brett Jones
Interim Artistic Learning
Programs Manager
PREP YOUR STUDENTS FOR THE SHOW–
Book your pre- or post-show classroom workshop!
Contact the Artistic Learning Coordinator,
Whitney Grace Krause at 510 548 3422 x105 for more info.
IN THIS GUIDE:
1. Cal Shakes Overview
Cal Shakes’ Mission, Funders, and Partners..................................................... 3
Artistic Learning Programs at Cal Shakes........................................................ 4
2. Twelfth Night Overview................................................................................... 5
A Note to Teachers....................................................................................... 6
Plot Summary.............................................................................................. 7
Who’s Who: The Actors................................................................................ 8
Who’s Who: The Characters.......................................................................... 9
Character Map............................................................................................. 10
Seeing the Play: Before and After................................................................... 11
Shakespeare’s Language............................................................................... 12
3. Behind the Play: Shakespeare and Elizabethan Times........................................... 13
Elizabethan Culture...................................................................................... 14
Twelfth Night Festival and Meaning of the Title................................................ 15
William Shakespeare: A Mysterious Life.......................................................... 16
4. Twelfth Night: “You’re Not Who I Thought You Were”........................................ 18
Two In One: Viola / Cesario............................................................................ 19
Maybe I Want People to Think I’m Someone Else: Identity and Disguise............. 20
No Really, Are You a Boy or a Girl?
Male and Female identities on stage in Shakespeare’s time............................... 22
5. Resources................................................................................................... 24
Twelfth Night on Film................................................................................... 25
Books and Internet....................................................................................... 26
6.

Classroom Activity Guide.............................................................................. 28
Cal Shakes’ Mission, Funders, and Partners..................................................... 29
Social Networking Character Study: “Shakesbook”........................................... 30
Twelfth Night Tabloid Scandal!....................................................................... 34
“Dear Diary”................................................................................................ 36
“Shakespeare’s Runway”............................................................................... 38
Empathy Through Personal Connections.......................................................... 44
“Brush Up Your Shakespeare” Reference Sheet................................................ 46
Cal Shakes’ Critique: Elementary and Middle School........................................ 47
Cal Shakes’ Critique: Middle and High School.................................................. 49
GUIDE CREDITS
Editor: Trish Tilman
Contributors: Philippa Kelly
Copy Editor: Keith Spencer
Layout & Graphics: Jennifer Louie and Keith Spencer
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OUR MISSION
With Shakespeare’s depth of humanity as our touchstone, we build character and
community through authentic, inclusive, and joyful theater experiences.
OUR FUNDERS AND PARTNERS
Artistic Learning programs are supported by generous contributions from the numerous donors
to our annual Gala Make-a-Difference Fund, the Dale Family Fund, Dodge & Cox, the Walter
& Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Dean & Margaret Lesher
Foundation, the Thomas J. Long Foundation, the MCJ Amelior Foundation, and the Ida and
William Rosenthal Foundation.
PRESENTING PARTNERS
SEASON PARTNERS
SEASON UNDERWRITERS
California Shakespeare Theater
701 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710
510.548.3422
• www.calshakes.org
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ARTISTIC LEARNING PROGRAMS
AT CAL SHAKES
The vision of the Artistic Learning department of Cal Shakes is to become a leading Bay Area
citizen, creating a culture of lifelong learners and nourishing imaginations in preparation for the
work of life.
Cal Shakes offers a variety of theater programs taught by theater professionals throughout the
school year and summer.
IN-SCHOOL ARTIST RESIDENCIES
With innovative curriculum, Cal Shakes brings working artists into the schools to teach theater
arts to develop students’ intellectual and social skills. We work with classroom teachers to
choose the text—Shakespeare or otherwise—and to align curriculum and methods in conjunction
with the classroom teacher’s goals. All residencies consist of 8-10 hours of instruction over
several weeks.
STUDENT DISCOVERY MATINEES (Field trips)
Our well-rounded approach to Student Matinees consists of multiple offerings, including this
free Teacher/Student Guide, optional pre- and post-show classroom visits by teaching artists, a
lively pre-performance engagement at the Theater, and a Q&A session with actors immediately
following the show. This multipronged approach offers a unique opportunity for students to
develop a lasting appreciation of theater and of Shakespeare through dynamic presentation and
the experience of a live work of art.
AFTER-SCHOOL CLASSES
After-school programs are a popular offering in many aspects of theater including acting, physical
comedy, and improvisation as well as Shakespeare. First grade and up.
SUMMER SHAKESPEARE CONSERVATORIES
Cal Shakes hosts Summer Shakespeare Conservatories in Lafayette and Oakland, in which
students study with professional Cal Shakes actors and artists. Scholarships are available.
Students return year after year to experience the joy of working intensely in theater fundamentals
such as acting, improvisation, stage combat, and voice, culminating in a production of a
Shakespeare play in original language.
For more information or to register for any of our programs, please call
the Artistic Learning Coordinator at 510.548.3422 x105, or email
learn@calshakes.org.
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OVERVIEW
Twelfth Night, or What You Will: You’re Not Who I Thought You Were
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A NOTE
TO TEACHERS
t
Code-switching: the terms means to fluidly adapt your behavior and persona to be appropriate to each
situation in which you might find yourself. We all do it – in a different cultural milieu than our own, in a
place of business, on spring break. Twelfth Night takes the idea of being able to adjust our behavior to
real extremes – the characters hide and deceive through forgery, disguise, and lying in order to achieve
their ends.
Hence the title Twelfth Night, which refers to the topsy-turvy world of the end of the English twelve night
Christmas celebration, which culminated in a festival of Misrule in which the delight in disguise and
trickery was fully indulged.
As your students’ psychological work is to develop their own personality and sense of truth in themselves,
this play shows us characters searching for the satisfying state of fully developed and revealed identity
– and finding themselves blocked at every turn. Viola’s disguise as the male “Cesario” keeps her from
revealing her love for Orsino, while causing Olivia to fall in love with the same “Cesario” – a person who
does not exist. Similarly Orsino deceives himself with the idea of how wonderful and melancholy love is
with Olivia as the object. Malvolio, the prudish steward, is punished by Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Feste,
who lock him in a dark room and declare him mad. Malvolio even tricks himself into believing Olivia
loves him to fulfill his own fantasy. The truth, or the epiphany of realization (“epiphany” also being a key
concept of the Christian realization and revelation of Christ at the Christmas holiday) will be revealed at
the end of the play, when all characters are truthfully identified and confusion is laid to rest.
Our director has layered another meaning upon the text, by reversing the Renaissance England dictate
of all male actors to have all the characters in our production, save one, played by women. Only the
character of Feste will remain played by a male actor, and it is well worth a discussion with your students
about what effect this has on the play’s concerns with identity and disguise.
There is no doubt there is much fodder for debate about gender roles in modern society, This play,
just as in Shakespeare’s time, is ripe for our concerns, emotions, celebrations, and delight in reversing
convention.
Enjoy!
Cal Shakes Artistic Learning Department
“The first and most important lesson… is that there are no rules about how
to do Shakespeare, just clues. Everything is negotiable.”
Antony Sher and Greg Doran, Woza Shakespeare! 1996, on training in the
Royal Shakespeare Company
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PLOT SUMMARY:
TWELFTH NIGHT: Moment by Moment
BY PHILLIPPA KELLY
A LANGUISHING: In the kingdom of Illyria, Duke Orsino languishes for the love of the lady Olivia, who’s
sworn off men while she mourns the death of her brother.
SOMEONE ELSE HAS LOST A BROTHER TOO: a young noblewoman, Viola, washes ashore on Illyria,
having survived a shipwreck. She believes her twin brother, Sebastian, was drowned in the storm.
A COURTING: Duke Orsino is enticed by Olivia’s chastity. The more she rejects him, the more he wants
her!
A JOB: Viola goes to work for Orsino in drag: she becomes his page, “Cesario.” She falls in love.
HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE: Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario.
MEANWHILE DOWNSTAIRS: Olivia’s uncle, Sir Toby Belch, tries to match her up with his friend, Sir
Andrew Aguecheek. The servant Malvolio is tricked into making a play for Olivia.
AT THE OTHER END OF THE ISLAND…Viola’s brother Sebastian is not dead. Saved by his friend
Antonio, he sets out across the island carrying some money Antonio loaned him.
A DUEL: Sir Andrew meets Sebastian and, thinking he is Cesario, challenges him to a duel.
A NARROW ESCAPE: Sebastian appears on the scene and wins a few rounds against Sir Andrew, who
thinks he’s fighting Cesario.v
AN OFFER OF MARRIAGE: Olivia comes upon Sebastian and, mistaking him for Cesario, begs for
marriage.
SOME GUYS DON’T CARE, APPARENTLY: Sebastian says yes to Olivia. Why not? Olivia is beautiful and
rich.
AND GIRLS DON’T KNOW, APPARENTLY. Orsino and Cesario come to Olivia’s house. Olivia welcomes
Cesario as her new husband. Orsino is furious. Cesario reveals himself as Viola and the confusion is
sorted out.
NOR DO OTHER GUYS CARE, APPARENTLY: Orsino is happy to marry Viola.
YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT: neither Sebastian’s friend Antonio nor the servant Malvolio,
ends on a happy note. But it’s still a comedy!
-7-
WHO’S WHO: THE ACTORS
CAST
Domenique Lozano*
MARIA
Julie Eccles*
OLIVIA
Stacy Ross*
MALVOLIO
Lisa Anne Porter*
VIOLA, SEBASTIAN
Catherine Castellanos*
SIR TOBY BELCH
Margo Hall*
SIR ANDREW
AGUECHEEK
Ted Deasy*
FESTE
Rami Margron*
DUKE ORSINO
*Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association.
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WHO’S WHO:
THE CHARACTERS
Valentine and Curio: servants to Orsino.
Antonio: Sebastian’s best friend, who helps him in Illyria at the risk of his own life.
Maria: One of the servants in Olivia’s household, who keeps company with Sir Toby, Sir
Andrew, and Feste. She is clever and quick-witted, and plots to take revenge on Malvolio
for his righteous rudeness.
Olivia: a countess, who is in mourning for her brother’s death. She rejects Orsino’s
proposals of marriage, but finds herself falling for “Cesario,” Viola’s male disguise.
Malvolio: The man in charge of Olivia’s household. He is of a severe and serious nature,
but harbors secret hopes of marrying Olivia and becoming a nobleman himself.
Viola and Sebastian: Identical twins, separated by the shipwreck at the beginning of the
play. Each believes the other has drowned. Viola, alone in Illyria, dresses as a man called
“Cesario” and undertakes service in the court of Duke Orsino. Sebastian finds his way to
Illyria and each twin is mistaken for the other.
Sir Toby Belch: Olivia’s uncle, who loves to drink, sing and stay up late with Sir Andrew,
Maria and Feste.
Sir Andrew Aguecheek: A friend of Sir Toby’s who has come to woo Olivia, although he
spends most of his time carousing with Sir Toby.
Feste: the clown or fool in Olivia’s household. He is one of the main participants in the plot
to bring down Malvolio.
Sea Captain: fellow survivor of the shipwreck that separates Viola and Sebastian, who
helps Viola to assume her disguise and find placement in Orsino’s house.
Duke Orsino: The Duke of Illyria. He is in love (or believes himself to be in love) with the
Countess Olivia, and hires “Cesario” (Viola in male disguise) to help him woo Olivia.
Fabian: another member of Olivia’s household who helps in the plot against Malvolio.
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CHARACTER MAP
twins
Viola
♀
Cesario
♂
en
ds
Sebastian
fri
❤
❤
/S
erv
ant
Antonio
Duke Orsino
❤
rva
se
le
he
ru
t
van
nc
ser
nt
Olivia
(countess)
Sir Toby
(Olivia’s Uncle)
Curio
friends
Valentine
Sir Andrew
Feste
Maria
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SEEING THE PLAY:
BEFORE AND AFTER
“If this were played upon a stage now,
I could condemn it as an improbable fiction.”
Fabian 3,4
Consider the following questions before and after the show.
BEFORE Viewing the Play
AFTER Viewing the Play
• How many people are deceived or
deceive themselves?
• What do you think of the people in
Illyria?
• How Orsino and Olivia treat Viola when
she is dressed as a man?
• Are they self-deluded or genuine people?
• Viola’s own reactions to the confusions
she has created.
• Feste’s role in keeping the festivities
afloat.
• Malvolio’s self-delusions.
• Does Viola show them anything new
about themselves?
• Which character do you like the best?
• Why is this play so concerned with
identity and who is who?
• Do you think it is a tragedy or a comedy?
• What do you think about the decision to
stage the play with mostly women?
• What kind of picture do you think
Shakespeare is trying to paint?
• Did you recognize any parts of this story
from modern movies or books?
See the “Write Your Own Critique” page in the Activity Appendix for more ideas about what to watch for and how to
write about your reactions after the show.
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SHAKESPEARE’S LANGUAGE:
IT’S NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS!
When asked the number one challenge with Shakespeare’s works, modern day audiences will almost
always respond “the language.” It’s true that the language does sound a bit different to our ears. And he
uses phrases that we no longer use in our everyday speech. But think of this: there are phrases that we
use today that would baffle Shakespeare, should he mysteriously time travel to this day and age. That’s
because language is constantly transforming.
Here are some original quotes from Twelfth Night.
Can you match them to their modern-day translations?
If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
Orsino, 1,1
Music makes me feel my love intensely. If you
give me a lot of music, maybe I will feel so
much in love that eventually I’ll get over it.
Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house…
Viola 1,5
I would stay near you always, live outside your
house and call out to you as if to my own soul.
O time! Thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me to untie!
Viola 2,2
Time can only work out this problem. It’s too
hard for me!
There is no woman’s sides
Can bide the beating of so strong a passion
As love doth give my heart;
Orsino 2,4
No woman could feel as much in love as I do.
I am all the daughters’ of my father’s house,
And all the brothers too:
Viola 2,4
I am the only living child in my family, and I
represent both the sons and daughters.
Some are born great, some achieve greatness,
and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.
Malvolio 2,5
Some people are born to success, some people
work hard to get success, and other people get
success just given to them.
And thus the whirligig of time brings in his
revenges.
Feste 5,1
What goes around comes around.
- 12 -
ELIZABETHAN CULTURE
OVERVIEW
- 13 -
ELIZABETHAN CULTURE:
SOME OF THE BASICS
How were festivals celebrated in Shakespeare’s time?
The Christian calendar was replete with holidays, notwithstanding the difficulty of resolving the Catholic
and Protestant ideas of how to properly celebrate religious occasions. Much like Carnivale in Italy, and
Mardi Gras here in the United States, the time of Twelfth Night was a festival where normal rules of
behavior were suspended until the festive time was over. Twelfth Night was unusual because many other
Christian festivals were more serious and more formally emphasized religious aspects.
What is a “fool” or “clown” in the Renaissance?
The tradition of fools, clowns, and jesters in noble houses is as old as nobility itself. When we think of
the jester, we often think of a person dressed in many bright colors, with a pointed hat with bells, and
indeed, this traditional European court fool was very much in favor during Shakespeare’s time. Elizabeth
I and James I, the rulers during Shakespeare’s lifetime, had favorite fools that were much admired and
celebrated.
Feste’s very name calls up images of festivals, feasting, and celebration. The fool also had license, by
virtue of his role as a joker, to actually tell the truth. Feste attempts to jolt Olivia out of her continuous
mourning by naming her a fool because she is sad for her brother who must only be in heaven. The fool
operates out of conventional societal rules, and therefore has a certain freedom, which can flourish in a
topsy-turvy time such as the Christmas festivities.
Death for Elizabethans
Death came more often and earlier for Renaissance folk, and was anticipated with great fear and a
powerful sense of mystery. Funeral rituals were specific, superstitions abounded in regards to what might
cause a death, and suicides were considered so horrific (that someone would choose death) that the
victims were forbidden to be buried in sacred ground. Symbols of death, known as momento mori – such
as skulls, skeletons, and bones – abounded in art; scholars even kept an actual skull on their desks.
Momento mori is Latin for “Remember that you have to die.” Shakespeare himself became the eldest
child of his five brothers and sisters, since the two girls born before him died when they were less than a
year old, and his own son, Hamnet, died at the age of eleven.
In Twelfth Night, not only do people lose their alternative identities and their ideally imagined loves, but
Feste also constantly reminds them that youth will be lost, and time moves on. For a fairly jolly romantic
comedy, the play ends on a melancholy note, even though all seems to have been set right. Shakespeare
himself went on to write tragedies exclusively for the rest of his career.
A second Broadway revival, starring Denzel Washington, is coming to Broadway in April 2014. It will
also be presented in the Ethel Barrymore Theater, where the original production was mounted. The play
continues to speak to the relevant issues of race, class, and prejudice that still exist in America today.
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BACKGROUND
“Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.”
Feste, Act 1, Scene 5
Twelfth Night was written around 1601, and the first recorded performance of it took place on Feb 2, in
1602 at a law school in London. It was perhaps written at the request of this group of lawyers, hence the
many references to fools, wit, and wisdom in the play.
Why is it titled Twelfth Night, or What You Will?
You’re probably familiar with the famous Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. These twelve
days stretched from December 25 to January 6. Twelfth Night was the end of the Christmas holidays in
England during Shakespeare’s time. The last day of the holidays was known also as a separate festival
of its own, called Epiphany, which means “to appear.” In Christian religion this referred to the time that
Christ was revealed to the three wise men. Epiphany also was a time of great festivity, with the emphasis
on the fun and confusion when the normal order of things is turned upside down. It’s interesting to think
about how Shakespeare uses the concept of “revelation” for the characters and themes in this play.
The “what you will” part of the title gives the sense of “anything goes” during the last part of the celebration. Indeed anything does go! Viola’s disguise as a man confuses just about everyone. There are also
many references to craziness and insanity, whether created deliberately by Maria and Feste or mistakenly
by Viola and Sebastian. Everyone in the play “wills” something – that is, wishes for or knows something
to be true. Every character loves someone unattainable and fights in their own way to achieve it.
Twelfth Night is consistently one of the most-performed and popular plays Shakespeare ever wrote. In
England it is the second most-performed of Shakespeare’s plays after Hamlet.
Exercise: School “Festival of Misrule” Day
If you could declare a Twelfth Night-like festival of Misrule at your school: what
would be turned upside down? Would teachers have to take classes from the
students? Would you declare a new dress code of only pajamas? Would you have
recess all day long?
Write a paragraph describing what your Festival of Misrule would be like if you were
in charge of it. Be sure to write why you decided on your particular ideas.
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE:
A MYSTERIOUS LIFE
(page 1 of 2)
O Time, thou must untangle this, not I.
It is too hard a knot for me t’ untie!
Viola, Act 2, Scene 2
William Shakespeare is considered one of the world’s finest playwrights. Writing in
England during the late 1500s during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I,
he established himself as a major poet, actor, and playwright. He mastered the comic and
tragic dramatic forms and introduced over 2,000 new words into the English language.
Shakespeare is read by nearly every American student and is perhaps best known for
Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
So sure, he’s one of the most highly regarded writers of all time. But the really interesting
thing is that we don’t actually know if the man known as William Shakespeare—of
Stratford-on-Avon, son of a glove-maker—was really the author of all the plays written
under his name. A common argument is that a lower middle-class man such as
Shakespeare could not have had sufficient education or knowledge of court matters to write
so insightfully and profoundly of the human condition and of kings, much less use language
so skillfully. Who could have written the plays? Frequently suggested are:
•
•
•
•
Queen Elizabeth
The Earl of Oxford
Sir Francis Bacon
A bunch of other playwrights writing under one name.
Even his real birthday is unsure. (Birth records of the time are rare and unreliable.)
Shakespeare was born on April 23, or maybe the 20th, or the 21st, or maybe even May
3. It’s pretty certain that it was in 1564, and that he was baptized on April 26. To add to
the confusion, back in Shakespeare’s day there wasn’t actually such a thing as standard
spelling—people spelled words as they sounded. Common spellings of “Shakespeare”
include “Shakespere,” “Shackspeare,” and “Shakspeare.” Furthermore, only a few samples
of handwriting are thought actually to be his—plays were copied out by actors and others
in the theater company to carry for rehearsals.
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE:
A MYSTERIOUS LIFE
(page 2 of 2)
There are a few things about Shakespeare, however, that we do know for sure. A man
known as William Shakespeare definitely was involved in the theater: His name is listed
among the acting company known as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men in London, which was
very popular with the people and with Queen Elizabeth. The company also built the famed
Globe Theatre in London, which premiered most of Shakespeare’s plays.
Shakespeare had a son named Hamnet who died young, and is thought to have inspired
the name of Hamlet. Shakespeare had two other children: Hamnet’s twin, Judith; and another daughter, Susannah.
Unfortunately, the Shakespeare line ended when his granddaughter Elizabeth died in 1670,
having no children of her own. Therefore, there are no descendants who kept records of the
time.
Shakespeare is buried in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, his birthplace. On
this grave there is an inscription cursing anyone who dares to move his body from that final
resting place. To this day his bones remain undisturbed.
What do you think?
For Students
Look up the clues that people have collected about who
Shakespeare was. Do you think there really was one
man from Stratford-on-Avon who wrote all of the plays,
or was the name used to cover up the real author(s)?
Why would someone want to cover it up? Does any of
this matter in the end?
- 17 -
WHO ARE YOU?
WHO AM I?
- 18 -
TWO IN ONE:
VIOLA / CESARIO
“I am all the daughters of my father’s house, and all the brothers too.”
Viola, Act 2, Scene 4
Viola decides to disguise herself as a young man in order to find service in Orsino’s court. She does this
because she needs to survive in the new country of Illyria where she has washed ashore. She also does
it for quite practical reasons – Olivia’s court is not hiring while Olivia remains in mourning, and Orsino’s
court will not hire female servants.
Many people wonder why Shakespeare included so many situations of women dressing as men in
his plays. Besides Viola, there is Rosalind in As You Like It, Imogen in Cymbeline, and Portia in The
Merchant of Venice. There are many possible reasons for this. Perhaps Shakespeare wanted to illustrate
the fact that women could not move independently in society, so they had to act like men. What is fairly
certain is that he enjoyed (and knew the audience would enjoy) the confusions and comedy that can
result from such a disguise. Orsino remarks many times how feminine the disguised Viola appears to him,
but Olivia sees only a handsome young man with whom she is in love, and of course Viola falls in love
with Orsino but cannot reveal her feelings while still disguised.
Viola comes from outside the city, cast there by shipwreck, and forced to play by the rules of this
strange new world. She knows the truth even as the people get crazier around her, and she exposes their
foolishness by understanding her own so clearly, even as she is trapped in her own disguise. Eventually
she reveals to them their blindness when she is reunited with her brother Sebastian, and everyone can
finally love the right person. She is the one who makes everyone finally understand reality, even when
they wish to be deluded.
Modern film connections: Some Like It Hot, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Associate, Just One of the Guys, She’s
the Man, and Shakespeare in Love.
Activity:
Make two different collages of images of men, and of
women, from popular magazines. Post them around the
classroom. Ask the students to look at each collage and
write down what they think the magazines are trying to
tell them about being a man or a woman. Do you agree
with the ideas you’ve seen communicated to you? Why
or why not?
Essay Question:
Do you think men get certain
opportunities in life that
women don’t? Do women
have opportunities that men
don’t get? Why do you think
that?
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MAYBE I WANT PEOPLE TO
THINK I’M SOMEONE ELSE:
IDENTITY AND DISGUISE
(page 1 of 2)
Two characters in particular show how important clothing is. Viola adopts her disguise as
a man and Malvolio dreams of a “branched velvet gown” (a kind of style and material only
available to nobles). The actual laws of the time prohibited the wearing of certain types of
materials and colors according to what class you were. (For example, wool was to be worn
by the lower classes, the color purple only by royalty. Imagine the chaos you’d cause if you
were a peasant wearing purple colored wool…) The clothes definitely “made the man.”
Malvolio ironically ends up in the most ridiculous clothes by wearing yellow cross-gartered
stockings, and later ends up in dirty rags as he is confined as an insane man.
Violating the laws regarding clothing could result in fines, punishment and, in medieval
times, even death! Think about what “identity” meant in Shakespeare’s time. Clothes were
considered to be the definition of the person and the person was defined by social status.
Your social standing was your identity. Therefore to change one’s clothes was to clearly and
definitively change the perception of one’s self.
Of course there is always the internal or emotional idea of what one’s own identity is, and
Viola knows who she is at all times, even in the midst of the confusions between herself
as Cesario and Sebastian. She knows she is a woman, she knows who she loves, and she
knows how to survive even in disguise.
These are a few examples of how people use disguise and change of identity in Twelfth
Night.
• Orsino sends Cesario to woo Olivia rather than going in person
• Viola dresses as a man to in order to get a job and survive in a new city.
• Olivia dresses in mourning to express her sadness at the deaths of her brother and
father.
• Olivia puts a veil over her face when Viola/Cesario arrives for the first time, in order
to confuse the messenger.
• Maria pretends to be Olivia, imitating Olivia’s handwriting in the letter to Malvolio,
which convinces him that Olivia secretly loves him.
• Malvolio puts on extravagant yellow, cross-gartered stockings and a big smile to
show Olivia he is worthy of her love.
• Feste dresses and talks as a priest when he talks to Malvolio in his “prison”.
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MAYBE I WANT PEOPLE TO
THINK I’M SOMEONE ELSE:
IDENTITY AND DISGUISE
(page 2 of 2)
Exercises with Perception of the Self:
Identity
Think about what clothes mean
today.
Is it important what people wear?
Do clothes say something about
who people are?
Do you think clothes should affect
how others think of you or not?
Have you ever had the feeling of being out of place because of the way
you were dressed?
Disguise
How do people use disguise today?
Think about: your profile on any
social media site. What do you want
to show to others? What do you
want to hide? What do you want
people to think of you?
Can people use only words (in
texting, or talking, or emailing) to
disguise themselves? How?
Can you think of a time that you
judged someone because of the way
they dressed?
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NO REALLY, ARE YOU
A BOY OR A GIRL?:
MALE AND FEMALE IDENTITIES ON
STAGE IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME
(page 1 of 2)
The idea of changing gender through cross-dressing has been around since ancient times.
People have always found it amusing and interesting to play at being the opposite gender
than themselves, and it makes for a great deal of comedy in Shakespeare’s theater.
Remember, in Shakespeare’s time women were not allowed to be actors. Therefore, young
boys whose voices had not yet deepened played the women’s roles, and we assume that
they had to do so seriously in order to convey the sincere feeling of tragedies such as Hamlet and Othello. However, in Shakespeare’s comedies, there is a wink to the audience, not
only in that a female character dresses as a male, but also that the actor is male, playing
a female, who dresses as a male. Renaissance audiences delighted in this sort of doubling
and tripling of meanings.
Our director has layered another meaning upon the text, by reversing the Renaissance
England dictate of all male actors to have all the characters in our production (save one)
played by women. All the male parts will be played by women, as well as the female parts.
Only the character of Feste will remain played by a male actor, and it is well worth a discussion with your students about what effect this has on the play’s concerns with identity
and disguise.
- 22 -
NO REALLY, ARE YOU
A BOY OR A GIRL?:
MALE AND FEMALE IDENTITIES ON
STAGE IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME
(page 2 of 2)
Movies with cross-dressed characters:
Some Like It Hot
Mrs. Doubtfire
Shakespeare
in Love
The Associate
Just One of the
Guys
Sample picture: Eddie Izzard
Source: www.imdb.com, www.eddieizzard.com
- 23 -
CLASSROOM
RESOURCES
- 24 -
ON FILM
Twelfth Night is a popular play on stage, and even more popular
on film. Many of these films update the play to a modern setting.
Twelfth Night (1996)
Director: Trevor Nunn
Writers: Trevor Nunn (adaptation)
William Shakespeare (play)
Release Date: 25 October 1996 (USA)
She’s the Man
Directed by Andy Fickman
Starring Amanda Bynes
Released in March 2006
(uses character names and places from
the play)
Twelfth Night (1987)
Director: Neil Armfield
Writers: Neil Armfield (writer)
William Shakespeare (play)
Just One of the Guys
Directed by Lisa Gottlieb
Starring Joyce Hyser & Sherilyn Fenn
Released in 1985
Twelfth Night (1980) (TV)
Director: John Gorrie
Writer: William Shakespeare (play)
Release Date: 6 January 1980 (UK)
Motocrossed!
Directed by Steve Boyum
Disney Channel Original Movie
Released in February 2001
See pages ___ and ___ for a list of films that have characters dressing as the opposite gender for further comparison.
Activities:
Ask students to look at the opening scenes of She’s the Man and the Trevor Nunn
film. What are the differences? Similarities? Do they tell the same story? Which one
do you think is more effective and why?
Ask students to come up with suggestions for modern retellings of the story. What
style would they use (puppets, animation, action film, Western)? Would you tell the
story from the point of view of another character? How would that change the story?
Would this story work if it was translated to other cultures? How could another culture
illustrate the foolishness of these characters?
- 25 -
BOOKS AND INTERNET
(page 1 of 2)
Teaching Resources for Twelfth Night
Folger Shakespeare Library
Massive collection of lesson plans and activities for teaching Shakespeare at all grade levels
www.folger.edu
Life in Elizabethan England
Elizabethan.org/compendium
Teachit.co.uk/armoore/Shakespeare
Snaithprimary.eril.net/ttss.htm
Read all about Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws and why Queen Elizabeth was forced to issue new
proclamations about clothing at http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-sumptuary-laws.htm
Activities on Shakespeare’s various plot and character relationships
Collaborativelearning.org/muchadoplotrelationships.pdf (for Much Ado About Nothing, but can be
adapted to any Shakespeare play)
The Stratford Festival’s “Tools for Teachers”
Stratfordfestival.ca/education/teachers.aspx?id=1096
Shakespeare Resource Center’s “Elizabethan England”
Bardweb.net/England.html
The Kennedy Center’s “The Poetics of Hip Hop”
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-9-12/Poetics_of_Hip_Hop.aspx
Shakespearean Insult Worksheet
https://www.theatrefolk.com/freebies/shakespearean-insults.pdf
“Shakespeare retold”
BBC.co.uk/drama/shakespeare
- 26 -
BOOKS AND INTERNET
(page 2 of 2)
Books
Davis, James E., ed. Teaching Shakespeare Today: Practical Approaches and Productive Strategies. Urbana, Ill:
National Council of Teachers of English, 1993.
Crystal, David, and Crystal, Ben. The Shakespeare Miscellany. The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc.
Woodstock and New York, 2005.
Crystal, David, and Crystal, Ben. Shakespeare’s Words: A Glossary and Language Companion. Penguin Books,
The Penguin Group. London, 2002.
Papp, Joseph and Elizabeth Kirkland. Shakespeare Alive! New York, New York: Bantam Books, 1988.
Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Shakespeare: A Thoroughly Painless Guide to the Best of the Bard. New York,
New York: Penguin Books, 1993
Asimov, Isaac. Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare. New York, New York: Random House, 1970.
Foster, Cass and Lynn G. Johnson. Shakespeare: To Teach or Not To Teach. Grades three and Up. Scottsdale, AZ:
Five Star Publications, 1992.
Garfield, Leon. Shakespeare Stories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.
Morley, Jacqueline and John James. Shakespeare’s Theatre: The Inside Story. East Sussex, London: Simon and
Schuster Young Books, 1994.
- 27 -
CLASSROOM
ACTIVITY GUIDE
May/June 2015
Note to Teachers: This guide was created as a supplement for teachers preparing students to see
California Shakespeare Theater’s production of Twelfth Night. Worksheets are designed to be used
individually or in conjunction with others throughout the guide. While we realize that no aspect of
this guide fully outlines a course for meeting a subject area’s standards, discussion questions and
topics are devised to address California state standards in English, Performing Arts, and History. The
activities here can be minimally reproduced for educational, nonprofit use only. All lessons must be
appropriately credited.
There are many excellent lesson plans for Twelfth Night on the Internet. Please see our “Resources”
page for links. This guide concentrates primarily on ideas that help students understand language,
plot, and character through activities that get students on their feet and speaking.
If you are interested in a California Shakespeare Theater Professional Development Workshop,
which provides easy-to-learn tools for teachers to incorporate theater and arts education activities
into California standards-based core curriculum, please contact the Artistic Learning Department at
510.548.3422 x105 or learn@calshakes.org.
- 28 -
OUR MISSION
With Shakespeare’s depth of humanity as our touchstone, we build character and
community through authentic, inclusive, and joyful theater experiences.
OUR FUNDERS AND PARTNERS
Artistic Learning programs are supported by generous contributions from the numerous donors
to our annual Gala Make-a-Difference Fund, the Dale Family Fund, Dodge & Cox, the Walter
& Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Dean & Margaret Lesher
Foundation, the Thomas J. Long Foundation, the MCJ Amelior Foundation, and the Ida and
William Rosenthal Foundation.
PRESENTING PARTNERS
SEASON PARTNERS
SEASON UNDERWRITERS
California Shakespeare Theater
701 Heinz Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710
510.548.3422
• www.calshakes.org
- 29 -
SOCIAL NETWORK
CHARACTER STUDY
Have your students create a Facebook profile following for a character from the play.
Overview: Being able to empathize with fictional characters sheds light on our own
personal situations, and recasts the plot of the play in relevant terms.
Grade: 6-12
Goal: To bring the characters of Twelfth Night into a real-world context.
State Standards: English Literary Response and Analysis 3.0-3.4
Outcomes: Students will be able to use basic facts from the text to imaginatively enter
into the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of fictional characters by creating a mock
Facebook page.
Activity: Familiarize students with the profile layout of a social networking site page, such
as Facebook. (See following examples.)
1. Ask the students to fill in the profile with
a. vital statistics
b. likes and dislikes
c. friends
Note: Students should use information drawn from their knowledge of the play
(for example, Sir Andrew is at Olivia’s court to woo her), filled out by their
imaginations (for example, Andrew has never ever had a girlfriend.)
2.
Profile photos may be drawn or cut out from magazines, or an actual photo of the student could be used and attached to the page. Remember, many
actual Facebook profile pages do not have an actual photo of the person who
made them—Facebook members sometimes choose a picture of something
they feel represents them, e.g., a tree or a poster they like.
3. Share the pages you have created in student pairs or in a group discussion.
ACTIVITY GUIDE

- 30 -
SOCIAL NETWORK
CHARACTER STUDY
(continued)
Reflection:
• Name one thing you had to imagine about your character that you think is really
interesting.
• Was it easy to imagine beyond the play—for instance, what Malvolio does in his
spare time? Or do you feel the play did not provide enough information? How so?
• How easy was it to decide who your character’s friends are? Would your character
ignore a friend request from other characters in the play? Why or why not?
Extension exercise in writing dialogue:
Note:
Require the students to fill out the worksheet manually, rather than actually filling
out a public profile online. If you can post their mock profile pages onto your
school website or blog for students to fill out within the framework of this
project, that would work as well, but false profiles in a public space should be
actively discouraged. Student examples should show a deep understanding of the
plot and qualities of the character. Some examples follow.
ACTIVITY GUIDE

- 31 -
shakesbook
Olivia, Countess of Illyria
is mourning the death of her father and brother.
Networks:
Sex:
Relationship Status:
Political Views:
Religious views:
Contact info
Email:
Current town:
Friends
Illyria
Female
Single! Very single!
None.
Christian
LonelyLady1602@illyria.com
Illyria
Personal Info
Activities: Looking for interesting men to date, but there just aren’t
any; listening to my jester make jokes; buying new mourning clothes;
missing my brother a lot.
Cesario
Andrew
Aguecheek
Toby Belch
Interests:
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Favorite music:
Playing the lute, which shows off my pretty hands.
Favorite TV shows: Gossip Girl, The OC
Favorite movies: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Favorite books:
Soap Opera Digest
Favorite quotes: “Make me a willow cabin at your gate”
from my true love, Cesario
Recently Received
Wall
Unwanted
affections from
Orsino
Check out our band, The Sailors. If you like
our sounds, become a fan!
The Sailors
A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain!
But that’s all one, our play is done,
And we’ll strive to please you every day!!
Feste
Welcome to Shakesbook, niece. Now have I got a
friend for you to meet!
Sir Toby Belch
PAGE 27
- 32 -
shakesbook
is _____________________________________
Networks:
Sex:
Relationship Status:
Political Views:
Religious views:
Friends
Information
Contact info
Email:
Current town:
Personal Info
Activites:
Interests:
Wall
Favorite music:
Favorite TV shows:
Favorite movies:
Favorite books:
Favorite quotes:
Favorite ___________:
PAGE 28
- 33 -
CREATE YOUR OWN TABLOID
TWELFTH NIGHT SCANDAL
Here is a fun way to bring the plot of Twelfth Night into a modern context.
Bring in examples of tabloid papers such as National Enquirer or The Star. Have students
study the style and layout of the papers, and the style of the written articles, and create
a front-page article breaking the news of the scandal in Orsino’s court. Use pictures and
sensationalist text liberally, but convey the facts of the play as it happens in the story.
You may want to do character “interviews” in a modern context as well, or quote lines
from the play that apply to their view of the situation.
On the following page is an example from the BBC’s “60-Second Shakespeare” site.
- 34 -
Wed 29 Oct |
Count confused by
cross-­dressing courtier
Top Illyrian nob Orsino
has just had the
surprise of his life after
discovering that the
newest gentleman at
his court was hiding a
big secret in his
breeches! Courtier Cesario, the
Duke's right hand man,
turned out to be a girl.
Now the unlikely couple
are to be married. "If music be the food of love,
play on"
Duke Orsino (pictured above, with
"Cesario"), Act I, Scene I
Cesario -­ actually
named Viola -­ had
arrived three months
after a
before, shipwreck in which she
lost her twin brother
Sebastian. Disguising
herself as a boy, she
took a job with Orsino -­
and quickly fell for the
clueless Count.
As if that weren't
complicated enough,
Orsino sent "Cesario"
to woo his neighbour
Olivia, on whom the
Count had a massive
crush. The bereaved
beauty, who'd recently
lost both her parents
and a much-­loved
brother, had no time
for the lusting lord. Despite having many
admirers -­ including
uncle Toby's
her friend, drippy knight
Sir Andrew Aguecheek
and her own steward -­
Malvolio, the stricken
girl wasn't in the
mood for love. But Cesario's, ahem,
boyish looks went
Continued below...
Viola
Plucky and
quick-­witted,
Viola has a twin
brother who looks
very similar to her.
Shipwrecked in
Illyria, she disguised
herself as a man,
Cesario, to get work
with Duke Orsino -­
but fell in love with
her employer.
Olivia
With no family
except for her
uncle, Olivia
determined to
mourn her brother
for seven years,
despite being
courted by Duke
Orsino. Once she
met Cesario though,
she fell for "him" at
once!
straight to her heart, and
when the young lad
suddenly agreed to marry
her, she was overjoyed.
What she didn't know was
actually married
she'd Sebastian, Viola's twin
brother, who had also
survived the shipwreck. Confusion reigned when
Orsino
A good and
noble man, he
had it bad for
Olivia, even though
she couldn't love
him. When new
courtier Cesario
revealed himself to
be Viola, and in love
with him, the Duke
soon realised where
his true love lay.
Sir Toby
Belch
Olivia's uncle
Toby is a bit of
rogue. Fond of late
nights and wine, he
enjoys a good
prank. He keeps his
daft friend Sir
Andrew Aguecheek
around -­ after all,
someone's got to
pay for the drinks!
Duke Orsino and Cesario
arrived at Olivia's house,
but it quickly gave way to
joy when brother and sister
were re-­united. What they said:
"Some are born great,
some achieve greatness,
and some have greatness
thrust upon 'em"
With one big secret out,
Viola revealed her love for
the Duke -­ and happily, he
felt the same. Once he got
over the shock, that is!
Malvolio, Act II, Scene
V
"Love sought is good,
but giv'n unsought is
better"
Olivia, Act III, Scene I
Read the whole play Today's weather All about writing The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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- 35 -
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DEAR DIARY
Overview: Writing a diary, blog, or journal entry from the perspective of one of the play’s
characters creates empathy with fictional characters, sheds light on our own personal situations,
and recasts the plot of the play in relevant terms.
Grades: 6–12
Goal: To bring the characters of Twelfth Night into a real-world context.
Outcomes: Students will be able to use facts from the text to imaginatively enter into the
thoughts, feelings, and motivations of fictional characters by writing a diary entry about an offstage moment from the perspective of a character in the play.
Activity:
1. Ask the students to write a diary, blog, or journal entry from the point of view of a
character in Twelfth Night, describing a moment when that character is not seen onstage.
Think about: What is happening when the character is in this offstage situation? What is
the character thinking and feeling?
2. Ask the students to choose a character and a moment to write about. Examples:
• Imagine Viola dressing as a man for the first time. How does she feel about the
clothing, and how convincing she will be? Does she have to practice acting “like a man?”
• What is the situation when Viola falls in love with Orsino? We see both Olivia’s moment
of falling for “Cesario,” and Orsino’s moment of accepting and loving Viola for as his wife,
but Shakespeare has Viola simply tell the audience that she has fallen in love at some
point previously.
• Imagine Malvolio in two moments: preparing for a usual day, and then preparing to
meet Olivia with his new yellow stockings and smiles.
• How did Sebastian survive the shipwreck? What has he been doing before we see him
show up in Illyria with Antonio?
• Imagine Sir Toby and Maria’s married life together. What kind of couple do you think
they will make?
Reflection:
• Name one thing you had to imagine about your character that you think is really
interesting.
• Was it easy to imagine beyond the play—for instance, what Feste’s thoughts might
be? Do you feel the play did not provide you with enough information? How so?
• How easy was it to decide which character to write an entry for? Are there
characters you think might be more likely to keep a diary or blog?
- 36 -
DEAR DIARY
(continued)
Extension Exercise:
Do the same writing exercise, but have one student write about the same incident from multiple
characters’ points of view. Alternatively, have many students describe the same incident from
different characters’ viewpoints.
Instead of a written piece, do a vlog (video blog) from the point of view of one character, or
featuring two characters talking about the incidents and expressing their opinions and feelings
about what happened.
- 37 -
MAKE IT WORK!
SHAKESPEARE’S RUNWAY
Overview: To delve into the understanding of character through translating the text into a design concept.
Goal: Students will use contextual clues and their understanding of text to inspire an original, artistic representation of the character.
Outcomes: Students will gain personal understanding of the characters by relating the text through the group
process to create an original interpretation of the character.
Materials:
• A scene featuring each of the three characters being studied
• A variety of art supplies: markers, scissors, tape, etc.
• About 40 clothing items that can create a wide variety of looks
• Safety pins and/or binder clips to adjust fabric to fit
• Body templates for design sketching (see Male and Female Templates on following page) and scrap
paper for notes
HOW TO PLAY: to study one of the characters from the play in order to outfit this character in a way that reflects who they are, based on your study of the text.
1. You are provided text in the next few pages that will give character and costume clues for each person.
Read the selected scene, taking note of words or character clues in the text as you go. Share with your group
the images that popped out at you, seeming to best describe the character.
2. As a group, select three key words that inspire you in your design process.
3. On your own, create a rendering of your character using various art supplies and the template provided for
you. Join your group again and, as a team, select one rendering to be brought to life. Elements may be combined from multiple drawings, but be prepared to explain your choices in the design presentation.
4. You will have a box of clothing including hats, shoes, skirts, etc.; choose the items that represent your character. You may also use found objects, your own clothing, and other assorted art supplies on hand.
5. One person from your team will serve as the model, one person will serve as the main presenter to tell the
class what line from the text most fully embodies your look, and each member of the team must explain how
the words are reflected in the clothing choices you made. The model must perform this line of text. If possible,
take a photo of the model next to the design ideas to complete the activity.
- 38 -
MAKE IT WORK!
SHAKESPEARE’S RUNWAY
(continued)
Reflection:
• Were there things about the character that you did not recognize before when you were looking at the
text from a designer’s perspective?
• How did your group arrive at the design concept that you ended up modeling? Did you have to make
some compromises?
• When looking at the other group’s designs, what do you think they most successfully represented
about their given character? When you see their word choices, what costume item most embodies one
of those words to you?
• What element of the character’s costume do you find the most intriguing or thought-provoking?
Note: Students do not need to be worried about a look that would go well in a magazine, i.e., one that could
have commercial appeal. It might be easy for some students to fall into this way of thinking as this kind of advertising is seen everywhere, but this exercise is only about physically embodying the character’s personality.
Extension activities:
Those who are interested in fashion or artistically oriented might want to base a clothing line on all of the main
characters in the play, presented as a runway.
Scrapbooking or creating a collage from different magazines or drawing a costume rendering first provides the
opportunity for students to share their own ideas about their character with their classmates.
- 39 -
MAKE IT WORK!
SHAKESPEARE’S RUNWAY
(continued)
Reflection:
• Were there things about the character that you did not recognize before when you were looking at the
text from a designer’s perspective?
• How did your group arrive at the design concept that you ended up modeling? Did you have to make
some compromises?
• When looking at the other group’s designs, what do you think they most successfully represented
about their given character? When you see their word choices, what costume item most embodies one
of those words to you?
• What element of the character’s costume do you find the most intriguing or thought-provoking?
Note: Students do not need to be worried about a look that would go well in a magazine, i.e., one that could
have commercial appeal. It might be easy for some students to fall into this way of thinking as this kind of advertising is seen everywhere, but this exercise is only about physically embodying the character’s personality.
Extension activities:
Those who are interested in fashion or artistically oriented might want to base a clothing line on all of the main
characters in the play, presented as a runway.
Scrapbooking or creating a collage from different magazines or drawing a costume rendering first provides the
opportunity for students to share their own ideas about their character with their classmates.
Pictured: Students from Northern Light School in Oakland, designing Ophelia’s death scene from
Hamlet in the exercise “Shakespeare’s Runway”; photo by Trish Tillman.
- 40 -
TEXT FOR VIOLA
SHAKESPEARE’S RUNWAY
(continued)
I left no ring with her: what means this lady?
Fortune forbid my outside have not charm’d her!
She made good view of me; indeed, so much,
That sure methought her eyes had lost her tongue,
For she did speak in starts distractedly.
She loves me, sure; the cunning of her passion
Invites me in this churlish messenger.
None of my lord’s ring! why, he sent her none.
I am the man: if it be so, as ‘tis,
Poor lady, she were better love a dream.
Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness,
Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.
How easy is it for the proper-false
In women’s waxen hearts to set their forms!
Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we!
For such as we are made of, such we be.
How will this fadge? my master loves her dearly;
And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;
And she, mistaken, seems to dote on me.
What will become of this? As I am man,
My state is desperate for my master’s love;
As I am woman,—now alas the day!—
What thriftless sighs shall poor Olivia breathe!
O time! thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me to untie!
—Viola, Act 2, Scene 2
- 41 -
TEXT FOR ORSINO
SHAKESPEARE’S RUNWAY
(continued)
DUKE ORSINO
O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first,
Methought she purged the air of pestilence!
That instant was I turn’d into a hart;
And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds,
E’er since pursue me…
O, she that hath a heart of that fine frame
To pay this debt of love but to a brother,
How will she love, when the rich golden shaft
Hath kill’d the flock of all affections else
That live in her; when liver, brain and heart,
These sovereign thrones, are all supplied, and fill’d
Her sweet perfections with one self king!
Away before me to sweet beds of flowers:
Love-thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers.
—Orsino, Act 1, Sc. 1
DUKE ORSINO
…There is no woman’s sides
Can bide the beating of so strong a passion
As love doth give my heart; no woman’s heart
So big, to hold so much; they lack retention
Alas, their love may be call’d appetite,
No motion of the liver, but the palate,
That suffer surfeit, cloyment and revolt;
But mine is all as hungry as the sea,
And can digest as much: make no compare
Between that love a woman can bear me
And that I owe Olivia.
—Orsino, Act 2, Sc. 4
- 42 -
MALE/FEMALE TEMPLATES
SHAKESPEARE’S RUNWAY
(continued)
- 43 -
EMPATHY THROUGH
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS
Overview: This is a personal writing and discussion exercise.
Grades: 8-12
Goal: Students will deepen their understanding of Shakespeare’s themes and characters through their
own emotional reactions to similar situations.
Outcomes: Students will write about and discuss the themes and characters’ reactions to situations in
the play.
Activity:
The classroom leader should lead the students through this exercise verbally, having the students write
their answers down on paper, using the provided text below. After you ask each question, ask them to
write one sentence describing the situation they answered for which they answered yes.
Frame this as an imaginative exercise but using real life feelings.
ACTIVITY:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Did you ever feel like you landed in a place where everyone was a little crazy?
Have you ever identified with someone who was being picked on?
Have you ever worried about wearing the right thing so that you fit in?
Did you ever play joke on someone by pretending to be someone else?
Have you ever had someone try to shut down your good time?
Do you know someone who always makes everyone laugh?
Have you ever written a love letter? A love text message?
Have you ever listened to a song over and over again because it reminded you of someone you
loved?
9. Do you believe in “love at first sight?”
- 44 -
EMPATHY THROUGH
PERSONAL CONNECTIONS
(continued)
REFLECTION:
After completing this exercise on paper, ask the students to reflect on their experiences. Do not ask
the students to share their personal choices unless they are willing. Using more general questions
will help them share without having to reveal anything specific, such as:
-
-
Did anyone find one of these situations was more meaningful for you than another?
Think about your own reaction to that situation – did you see a character in the play with the
same reaction? Which character?
Now ask the students to identify the situations in the play that correspond to the questions above.
-
-
-
Can you see any times in the play when the characters expressed the same kinds of feelings
that you described? Did they have different reactions?
Are you more sympathetic to Malvolio’s or Viola’s situation?
Which situation do you think is the most important in the play? Why?
- 45 -
BRUSH UP YOUR
SHAKESPEARE
REFERENCE SHEET
Below are some commonly used, but unfamiliar, words that Shakespeare employed in his writing.
addition—title
clout—a piece of white cloth
passing—surprisingly, exceedingly
affined—bound by duty
cog—to deceive
perchance—maybe
alarum—call to arms with
coil—trouble
perforce—must
trumpets
cousin—any close relative
politician—schemer
anatomize—to analyze in detail
descant—improvise discourses—speaks
post—messenger
ancient—ensign
dispatch—to hurry
power—army
anon—until later
e’en—evening
prithee—please
arrant—absolute
enow—enough
quest—a jury
aroint—begone
fare-thee-well—goodbye
recreant—coward
assail—to make amorous siege
fie—a curse
resolve—to answer; reply to
attend—to await
fustian—wretched
but soft—be quiet
aye—yes
got—begot
soundly—plainly
baffle—to hang up (a person) by the
heels as a mark of disgrace
grammarcy—thank you
stale—harlot
halter—noose
subscription—loyalty,
allegiance
baggage—strumpet, prostitute
balk—to disregard
barm—the froth on ale
belike—maybe
belov’d—beloved
blank—a target
bolted—refined
brach—bitch hound
brake—bushes
brave—fine, handsome
bum—backside, buttocks
caitiff—a wretched humble person
catch—song
character—handwriting
Cousin ,’coz—relative, good friend
chuck—term of endearment, chick
honest—chaste, pure
heavy—sorrowful
housewife—hussy, prostitute
impeach—dishonor
list—listen
mayhap—maybe
mess—meal, food
mew—confine
minister—servant
moiety—portion
morrow—day
nay—no
ne’er—never
office—service or favor
oft—often
tax—to criticize; to accuse
troth—belief
teem—to give birth
thee—you (informal)
thou—you (informal)
thy—your (informal)
tucket—trumpet flourish
verge—edge, circumference
verily—truly
villain—common person, not noble
want—lack of, don’t have
well-a-day—alas
wherefore—why
yea—yes
zounds—by his (Christ’s) wounds
- 46 -
YOU’RE THE CRITIC:
YOU’RE THE CRITIC:
CAL SHAKES
PLAY CRITIQUE
CaL SHaKES PLaY CRITIQUE
(Elementary and Middle School)
(Elementary And Middle School)
NAME: __________________________________
NAME: __________________________________
1. Circle the number of stars that best matches how you’d rate this performance. (One star is the lowest ra
1. Circle the number of stars that best matches how you’d rate this performance. (One star is the
and five
starsrating
is theand
best
rating.)
Then
writerating.)
a paragraph
on the
back of theonpaper
that of
specifically
lowest
five
stars is
the best
Then write
a paragraph
the back
the paperdescribe
you gave
that rating.describes
Do not simply
saygave
“I didn’t
like
it”, but
Forsay
example,
“I didn’t
that itspecifically
why you
it that
rating.
Dosay
notwhy.
simply
“I didn’t
like it,”like
butthe fact that
say
why.
For
example,
“I
didn’t
like
the
fact
that
the
director
changed
the
setting
to
New
York”
director changed the setting to New York” or “I loved the way the actors made me believe that they were re
way the actors made me believe that they were really going to kill each other.”
goingor
to“Ikillloved
eachthe
other”.
2. Outline the main actions that happened in the plot (what were the big events in the story?)
2. Outline the main actions that happened in the plot (what were the big events in the story?).
a.
b.
a.
c.
d.
e. b.
f.
3. c.
What is the central idea or theme of the play?
d.
4. Describe what the actors did to help you understand the Shakespearean language.
e.
f.
5. What did you particularly like or dislike about the staging (set design, lights, costumes, music, etc.)?
- 47etc.
6. Shakespeare writes about things that we all experience: Love, jealousy, death, anger, revenge,
Writ
paragraph (on the back) about one emotion in the play that relates to your own life at the moment.
YOU’RE THE CRITIC:
CAL SHAKES PLAY CRITIQUE
(continued)
3. What is the central idea or theme of the play?
4. Describe what the actors did to help you understand the Shakespearean language.
5. What did you particularly like or dislike about the staging (set design, lights, costumes, music,
etc.)?
6. Shakespeare writes about feelings that we all experience. In Twelfth Night, we see people with
feelings like love, jealousy, anger, frustration, and others. Pick one of these emotions that
you’ve experienced strongly and write what happened in your life to make you feel that way and
what happened because of it.
- 48 -
YOU’RE THE CRITIC:
CAL SHAKES PLAY CRITIQUE
(Middle and High School)
NAME: __________________________________
Give this production a rating of one to five stars. (One star is the lowest rating and five stars is the
highest.) On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph review of the play. In other words, describe
why you gave it that rating. Give specific examples to support your reasons. On the same sheet of paper, reflect on the following questions:
Star rating: ___ stars
1. How would you describe the character of Viola as she is portrayed in this production? What do you
think of her?
2. What do you think about the play being cast with mostly women? Does gender play a part in casting decisions? Should it? Why or why not?
3. Which character did you sympathize with most? Why?
- 49 -
YOU’RE THE CRITIC:
CAL SHAKES PLAY CRITIQUE
(continued)
4. Think
i.
ii.
iii.
about and describe:
The vocal and physical actions of the actors (characterization)
The set
The costumes
5. What do you think Shakespeare is trying to say in this play? In other words, why did he write this
play with these specific characters and actions as opposed to just finishing his career with Romeo
and Juliet or some other play?
6. The job of the director, the costume designer, and the set designer are to tell the story of the play
according to a certain vision of what the play might mean overall. Did the elements of characterizations, set, and/or costumes reinforce any overall meaning you got from the play?
7. In Twelfth Night especially, Shakespeare shows us both light-hearted and dark sides of characters – for instance, Sir Toby and Mariah, whose mischief is a source of comedy, but also leads to
Malvolio’s extreme humiliation. Do you or people you know show both good and not-so-good sides
to their personalities and actions? Is Shakespeare showing us believable characters when he does
this?
- 50 -
YOU’RE THE CRITIC:
CAL SHAKES PLAY CRITIQUE
(continued)
8. Now, imagine you are the director of Twelfth Night, and use a new sheet of paper to create your
own production.
· Cast the characters of Viola, Orsino, and Olivia with famous actors. Why would you choose
these people – what would they bring to the character?
· Many directors set Shakespeare plays in time periods other than the Renaissance. What other
setting could you place the play in that would make sense? Why?
· How about costumes? Imagine how the characters in your new production would be dressed
that would illustrate the kinds of characters they are and what setting you have put the play in.
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