Monday, March 5, 2018
"Twelth Night" Production performed by Sir Roger Manwood School
The comedic plot of Twelfth Night involves a shipwreck which divides twin brother and sister, Sebastian and Viola. In order to survive on this new territory, Viola must serve as a male servant in disguise for the Duke, Count Orsino. Along the way to the twin’s eventual reunion, the most confusing and bizarre love triangle (or square, if you will) develops between Viola, Orsino, Sebastian and the lady in which the Duke is trying to pursue, Olivia. This love story, as well as various hilarious encounters between the servants of Lady Olivia’s Household means that this play is one of Shakespeare’s most famous comedies.
The auditions began in September, with the choice of monologues to audition from. I received a call back with Katie Heppell, who played Olivia, to see how we performed together. The performances went well and soon after we had the casting list up and ready for rehearsals.
“It was such a fun experience and great to get to know new people” - Freya Watson
The cast included a large variety in the upper years, with many main roles played by sixth formers, such as Yusha Sheikh, Harry Toyé, Fraser Rickatson from Year 13 and Jack Jenkins and Molly Burke from Year 12. Many students from year 11 were also just as much involved such as myself, Millie Thomas, Guy Reid Easton, Freya Watson, Leah Prothero. Younger years also got involved with smaller roles of officers or being the dancers and living scenery.
“It was great to have all of the Years combining and becoming friends” -Guy Reid Easton
Rehearsals began before Christmas and the race was on to learn our lines. We began in the studio, devising scenes whilst also learning the meaning behind the words (needless to say, they were difficult to understand at first.) Eventually, we began to perform the scenes on stage and although it took some time, the sporadic scenes of the play began to come together once running the full show. Costumes came next, and suddenly we were in character, despite how ridiculous some of us looked. Seeing the show come together from the very beginning was definitely one of the best experiences and rewarding to see the end result.
Show week is always one of my favourite weeks of the year because the build up to the show is always the most exciting! After lighting and sound checks, we were on our way to full production and with the first performance only a few nights away, this was the time for practicing and perfecting. Performances for all three nights went extremely well, with high spirits and fun on stage as well as off. We received a lot of laughs all three nights and it was great to see our hard work paying off. It was an all-round amazing experience.
“Show week was literally the best week of my life!” - Millie Thomas
Of course, the show would not have gone on without the hard work put in from Ms. Wnek, who worked with us all, directing and organising the entire production. She created the production and made it what it was- giving us the confidence to give all of our best performances!
“Twelfth Night” was such an amazing experience to be a part of and we definitely all made some amazing memories.
Written for Sir Roger Manwoods School's Annual Newspaper, 'The Manwoodian'
Written for Sir Roger Manwoods School's Annual Newspaper, 'The Manwoodian'