2008 SEASON    

2008 YORK SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
DIRECTOR'S NOTES

I am always trying to find those clues in Shakespeare that take him off the page, off the mantle of the greatest English speaking author, and into the human being who commented on the things around him. The writer who was writing for his own time, about his people, and his society. Twelfth Night, to me, is a perfect example of this.

A man surrounded by poverty, an overcrowded London, crime, disease, rat infestation, and a people relying on beer to escape reality (one of the few things people could afford). A man who is mourning the loss of his son Hamnet to the plague (one out of three children died by the age of ten). A man who is facing the possibility that his greatest patron, Queen Elizabeth I, will not be around for much longer. After all, she is the one who was the most responsible for giving him and his fellow players their livelihood. The one who was the main opponent to the Puritans. Those who had already succeeded in getting the theatre, and plays, banned from London and moved to the other side of the river. Those who wanted to close the theatres for good. They that threatened everything Shakespeare loved and believed in.

Twelfth Night was written for Queen Elizabeth and was performed in 1602. Performed for a court with Puritan sensibilities. I would argue, Twelfth Night would be the last true comedy Shakespeare wrote. Evidence suggests the next play he would write after Twelfth Night is Hamlet. It is also the only play with an alternate title (Or What You Will). A touch of cynicism? Yes, Twelfth Night is a brilliantly structured comedy. It is also a play filled with very dark undertones including fear, anger, guilt, and resentment to name a few. Malvolio's last line in this play is "I will be revenged on the whole pack of you." Did Shakespeare sense the dark days to come? The Puritans finally succeeded in closing down the theatres for good in 1642. They demolished Shakespeare's beloved Globe Theatre in 1644.

To me, Twelfth Night will always be a rich, brilliantly textured, and fascinating study into Shakespeare's mind. A mind, a human mind, after all is said and done, that still believed love could, and still does, conquer all.

Lee Wilson, Director, Twelfth Night

2008 SEASON