Or Twelfth Night)
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
This was a packet I researched and compiled for the actors and crew of Project Nongenue’s 2019 production of What You Will (or Twelfth Night). Project Nongenue aims to bring marginalized voices to the center of classical theatre - in the case of What You Will, director Olivia Buntaine wanted to focus on and amplify the inherent queerness of the source material. A lot of the early rehearsals involved discussions of gender identity and sexuality. Buntaine wanted me to highlight cross-dressing throughout history - who was cross-dressing, why were they cross-dressing, and what did it mean about the way they perceived themselves? I was present at the first read-through, where I was able to observe what words, phrases, and concepts the actors were confused by. I created a glossary to clear up any confusion they were feeling (particularly the actor playing Sir Toby, who was the source of most of the unfamiliar vocabulary terms). What I enjoyed researching the most was past productions of Twelfth Night that called upon its queerness. The various ways in which cross-gendered casting was employed were as different as night and day, and I like to think that Project Nongenue’s reimagining of the text exists somewhere in what would be the twilight. 1 WHAT YOU WILL (OR TWELFTH NIGHT) Dramaturgical Research Conducted By Mimi RuthStiver For Project Nongenue 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS: A History of Twelfth Night, or What You Will 4 Theatre in the Elizabethan Era 5 What is Twelfth Night? 6 Illyria 6 Glossary (AKA “what is Toby talking about?”) 8 Notable Productions 9 Was Shakespeare Queer? 14 Cross-dressing in History: A Timeline 16 Notable Figures in Cross-Dressing History 18 References 23 3 Disclaimer: Every resource I found used very binary language - for example, “all-male productions,” and “all women were banned from the Elizabethan stage”. While I know that gender exists not in black and white but in all shades of grey, I struggled to find a way to convey that in writing while still getting the source materials' points across. Please know that all uses of gendered language do not reflect my actual stance. A History of Twelfth Night, or What You Will MALVOLIO APPEARS CROSS-GARTERED TO OLIVIA IN MALVOLIO AND THE COUNTESS BY DANIEL MACLISE. William Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night sometime around 1601, with performances debuting the following year. Historians have found several possible sources as to what inspired Twelfth Night: 1. Plato’s Symposium, particularly the section wherein fellow philosopher Aristophanes describes the history of soulmates. According to Aristophanes, humans were originally designed conjoined. Each pair could be any combination of genders (both women, both men, a man and a woman, etc). Together, each pair formed a complete person. When Zeus decided to punish humans for their arrogance, he split them down the middle and separated them from their other halves. 4 2. “Apolonius and Silla,” a short story by Barnaby Riche for Riche his farewell to his military profession (1581). Riche told the story of a set of twins and their respective love interests. Upon losing her twin brother, Silla cross-dresses as him and adopts his name, Silvio, when she presents as such. She performs as Silvio to work for and eventually woo the duke, Apolonius. 3. GI’Ingannati (“The Deceit”), written by the Academia deli Intronati, an Italian play about twins, cross-dressing, and mistaken identities. Shakespeare likely drew most of his inspiration from his own life, as in 1585 he became the father of twins, a boy and a girl named Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet died in 1596, making the story of a sister yearning for her (presumed) dead twin brother even more poignant. Theatre in the Elizabethan Era Elizabethan theatre originated in “inn- yards” - the courtyards of local inns. Hundreds of people attended plays, making acting an extremely profitable profession. James Burbage, an English actor and theatre builder, was the first person to come up with the idea to move performances from inn-yards to locations built specifically for theatre. The first venue was simply called “The Theatre” and was modeled after AN INN-YARD. old Greek and Roman open-air amphitheaters. The Theatre was greatly successful, but profits dropped drastically in the wintertime when patrons didn’t want to venture into the snow to see a play; this lead to the invention of the playhouse, indoor theatre venues that were converted from existing buildings. The laws of contemporary theatre in the Elizabethan era prohibited women from acting in any of Shakespeare’s plays; he wrote Twelfth Night (and all his other plays) knowing that Viola was going to be a woman pretending to be a man played by a man pretending to be a woman. Shortly after the English Civil War began in 1642, Parliament closed the theaters and banned all public stage plays. King Charles II reopened the theaters and lifted the ban on female actresses when the monarchy was restored in 1660. The trend of cross-gendered casting quickly died out from there. 5 What is Twelfth Night? Twelfth Night is a British holiday celebrated on January 5th, the 12th night after Christmas. Twelfth Night is when all Christmas decorations should be taken down - any left up should remain displayed until the following year, as taking decorations down any day other than January 5th is said to bring bad luck upon the house. Historically, Twelfth Night was a day of practical jokes and plays. Illyria From roughly 400 B.C. to 167 B.C., the region known now as the Balkan Peninsula was occupied by several tribes, collectively known as Illyrians. (Dramaturg’s note: This is one of several definitions of Illyria/Illyrians - the history is murky and this reading was the clearest one I could find.) Illyrians spoke an Indo- European language, one that shares a lot of similarities with Albanian and Messapic (a language spoken in Apulia, a region of Southern Italy). It is hypothesized that both of these languages derived from the Illyrian language. A MAP ESTIMATING ILLYRIA’S BOUNDARIES. The kingdom began its expansion under the rule of King Agron around 250 B.C. Agron’s primary focus as a ruler was military advancement - he built up the Illyrian naval forces in the Mediterranean Sea and expanded his rule up the Adriatic coast (the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea). Under his leadership, the Illyrians bested the Aetolians (a community of various tribes and cities in Greece) in battle around 231 B.C. After celebrating his victory with copious amounts of alcohol, Agron became ill with pleurisy (inflammation in the chest and lungs) and passed away. 6 Agron’s wife, Teuta, then took the throne. She followed in her husband’s military-minded footsteps, conquering both Dyrrachium and Phoenice. Along with Illyria’s naval forces, Teuta also commanded pirates. Piracy was legal and even embraced in Illyria, seen as an honorable profession. Teuta’s pirate ships had free reign of the Mediterranean Sea. The Roman Senate tried to intervene in 230 B.C. after receiving numerous complaints from their merchants. Since Rome used the Eastern Mediterranean Sea for several important trade routes, their work was constantly spoiled by Teuta’s pirates who raided their ships and stole their goods. The Romans sent two ambassadors to Illyria to try to convince Teuta to control her pirates and not have them interfere with the Roman’s trade routes. Teuta refused - after all, since piracy wasn’t illegal in Illyria, it wasn’t fair to change her kingdom’s laws to suit the Romans. On top of her refusal, Teuta was so insulted by the Romans’ request that she held one ambassador captive, had the other one killed, and ordered her pirates to seize their ships. After learning of their ambassador’s death, the Roman Senate declared war on Illyria, sending a fleet of about 200 ships and 20,000 soldiers. When the soldiers arrived at Corcyra, Teuta’s governor Demetrius immediately “betrayed her by handing over control of Corcyra to the Romans and joining their side as an advisor. From there, the Roman troops advanced north to Apollonia, attacking towns along the way until they arrived at the capital city of Scodra.” Rome’s militia was a lot stronger than the A BUST OF QUEEN TEUTA Illyrian navy, so Teuta fled south. By 228 B.C. Rome had gained control over the whole Illyrian coast, and in 227 B.C. Teuta officially surrendered to them. Rome declared peace and offered Teuta the chance to continue ruling over a small region so long as she acknowledged that Rome was the superior land. Humiliated at the thought of succumbing to her foes and accepting their pity offer of a tiny reign, Teuta gave up the throne. According to some accounts, Teuta never got over her defeat and eventually ended her own life by jumping off a cliff in the Bay of Kotor (what is now Risan, Montenegro). 7 Glossary (AKA “what is Toby talking about?”) Elysium (1.2) - in Greek mythology, the paradise where the heroes that the gods made immortal were sent Eunuch (1.2) - a man who has been castrated for a specific social reason, often to guard women’s quarters or as a king’s servant Viol-de-gamboys (1.3) - a viola played between the legs (like a cello); often used with a sexual connotation “thou lackest a cup of canary” (1.3) - “you need a drink” Kickshawses (1.3) - from the French phrase quelque chose, meaning “something”; in modern context, it means either something frivolous or needlessly intricate, or a fancy meal Galliard (1.3) - a lively dance characterized by jumps and leaps, done in triple time by two people Profanation (1.5) - to treat something/someone with disgust or abuse Diluculo surgere (2.3) - to awaken at dawn Mellifluous (2.3) - a voice/words that is/are sweet and pleasant to hear “To hear by the nose…..out of one weaver?” (2.3) - “If we were to listen to Feste with our noses, we would say that he stinks very sweetly.