INHERITING THE MOTLEY MANTLE: AN ACTOR APPROACHES PLAYING THE ROLE OF FESTE, SHAKESPEARE’S UPDATE OF THE LORD OF MISRULE By ANDREW CLATEMAN B.A.Brown University, 1989 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in the Department of Theatre in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Spring Term 2011 © 2011 Andrew Clateman ii ABSTRACT Playing role of Feste in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night presents a complex challenge to the actor. Feste is at once a character in the world of the play and a clown figure with specific dramatic functions having roots in the Lord of Misrule of the English holiday and the Vice of the morality play. How can the actor playing Feste create a believable psychological portrayal that is aligned with the functions Shakespeare assigns the role? And be entertaining as well? I suggest that actor will benefit greatly from an exploration the traditional function of the clown its development in society and literature before Shakespeare, and how Shakespeare’s use of the clown developed, culminating in the writing of Twelfth Night. The actor will thereby have a better understanding of what Shakespeare might by trying to achieve with Feste,, and he (or she) may better find the motivations for Feste’s sometimes-enigmatic words and actions, which will, in turn, give shape and purpose to the clowning. I put this thesis to the test in preparing for and playing the role of Feste in Theater Ten Ten’s production of Twelfth Night in the spring of 2010 in New York City. My research and preparation will include: a substantial immersion in much of Shakespeare’s cannon, and viewing of performances of it (mainly on video); research on the role of the clown, how it developed through history until Shakespeare’s time, and how Shakespeare appropriated and developed that tradition, culminating in Feste; a performance history of the role; a structural analysis of Feste’s role in Twelfth Night; a character study of Feste; a rehearsal and performance journal documenting my ongoing iii exploration, challenges and choices. The main challenge, as I foresee it, is to arrive at my own unique performance of Feste while fulfilling both my director’s vision and Shakespeare’s intention. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: FESTE’S FOREBEARS IN ART, SOCIETY AND SHAKESPEARE ..................... 5 CHAPTER 3: FESTE’S STRUCTURAL ROLE IN THE PLOT OF TWELFTH NIGHT......... 20 CHAPTER 4: CHARACTER STUDY OF FESTE ............................................................................ 28 Feste’s Biography? .......................................................................................................................... 29 An Allowed Fool ............................................................................................................................... 30 Age? ...................................................................................................................................................... 31 Feste’s Final Song: His Life Story or the Story of His Life? .............................................. 32 Feste’s Philosophy and Relation to Religion ......................................................................... 33 Vengefulness? ................................................................................................................................... 35 A Melancholic? .................................................................................................................................. 37 Feste’s Wit .......................................................................................................................................... 38 Meta-Theatrical Elements as Part of Feste’s Character.................................................... 39 Sexuality ............................................................................................................................................. 40 CHAPTER 5: PERFORMANCE HISTORY AND PERFORMANCES VIEWED ..................... 42 Festes I’ve Seen ................................................................................................................................ 47 CHAPTER 6: MY PERFORMANCE OF FESTE.............................................................................. 51 Elements of the Characterization.............................................................................................. 52 Ageless and energetic ............................................................................................................... 52 Voice ................................................................................................................................................ 54 Motley? . ......................................................................................................................................... 55 Impish sexuality .......................................................................................................................... 56 Music and my drum ................................................................................................................... 57 Scene-by-Scene Description and Analysis ............................................................................. 59 Act 1, scene 5. ............................................................................................................................... 59 Act 2, scene 3. ............................................................................................................................... 67 Act 3, scene 1. ............................................................................................................................... 73 Act 3, scene 2 ................................................................................................................................ 77 Act 3, scene 4. ............................................................................................................................... 78 Act 4, scene 1. ............................................................................................................................... 81 Act 4, scene 2. ............................................................................................................................... 83 Act 4, scene 3. ............................................................................................................................... 88 v Act 5, scene 1. ............................................................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER 7: REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE JOURNAL ................................................. 95 Audition and Preparation for First Rehearsal ..................................................................... 96 Rehearsals ........................................................................................................................................ 107 The Performance Run .................................................................................................................. 143 CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 164 LIST OF REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 168 vi INTRODUCTION The role of Feste in Twefth Night is arguably Shakespeare’s quintessential clown creation and as such presents a distinct honor and challenge to the actor who gets to play it. In almost every one of his plays, Shakespeare created roles of varying size for the actor considered the clown of the theatrical company. Of all these roles, Feste has the most lines, the most constant stage presence and most integral function to his play. In Feste, Shakespeare combined the many facets and functions of the clown roles he had been developing. Through Shakespeare, Feste stands at the apogee of the development of the clown in society and art to that point, and as a clown character in a play, he has not been surpassed. The actor may more fully appreciate the honor and approach the challenge of playing Feste by gaining a fuller understanding of Feste’s place in the spectrum of Shakespeare’s clown creations and the point on the continuum of the development of the clown in art and society he represents. The challenge of playing Feste has many elements. Not only is Feste a character in a play, he functions as an actual clown, an entertainer with a particular array of talents, including singing, dancing, ability to perform physical humor. Feste, more essentially than the other characters in Twelfth Night, is also a theatrical device serving several functions. He is figure that stands apart from the story itself, who comments on the action of the play; directly, though his words; indirectly, through his very being. He juggles with levels of reality and has a special and direct connection with the audience. Feste fulfills many of the 1 time honored functions of the clown of Elizabethan culture (as well as cultures prior and contemporary to it) and it will inform the actor’s choices to gain an appreciation of how those functions function in the world of Twelfth Night. The most essential of those functions is as a subtle version Lord of Misrule, the leader of festivals of Saturnalia