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William Shakespeare

Twelfth Night, or What You Will

Director

Janusz Kica

Opening night

16 December 2023
Main Stage

Duration:

125 minutes, no interval

Creators

Creative team

TRANSLATOR

Milan Jesih

Drama Igralec: Milan Jesih | odpri ustvarjalca

DRAMATURG

Mojca Kranjc

Drama Igralec: Mojca Kranjc | odpri ustvarjalca

SET DESIGNER

Karin Fritz

Drama Igralec: Karin Fritz | odpri ustvarjalca

COSTUME DESIGNER

Eva Dessecker

Drama Igralec: Eva Dessecker | odpri ustvarjalca

MUSIC DESIGNER

Darja Hlavka Godina

Drama Igralec: Darja Hlavka Godina | odpri ustvarjalca

LANGUAGE CONSULTANT

Arko

Drama Igralec: Arko | odpri ustvarjalca

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Aleš Vrhovec

Drama Igralec: Aleš Vrhovec | odpri ustvarjalca

ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER

Ana Janc

Drama Igralec: Ana Janc | odpri ustvarjalca

VOCAL COACH

Joži Šalej

Drama Igralec: Joži Šalej | odpri ustvarjalca

The songs were set to music by Janez Škof. Lines from William Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 7, translated by Janez Menart, were set to music by Joži Šalej.

Drama Igralec: The songs were set to music by Janez Škof. Lines from William Shakespeare’s <i>Sonnet No. 7</i>, translated by Janez Menart, were set to music by Joži Šalej. | odpri ustvarjalca

Cast

Igor SamoborDrama Igralec: Igor Samobor | odpri igralca

Sir Toby Belch

Gregor BakovićDrama Igralec: Gregor Baković | odpri igralca

Sir Andrew Aguecheek

Janez ŠkofDrama Igralec: Janez Škof | odpri igralca

Fool (Feste)

Gorazd LogarDrama Igralec: Gorazd Logar | odpri igralca

A Priest

Twelfth Night, or What You Will is one of Shakespeare’s most frequently performed comedies. It was written between 1600 and 1602 and first performed at the court of Queen Elizabeth I on Candlemas Eve in 1602.

The main character, a nobleman’s daughter Viola, is rescued from a shipwreck somewhere in Illyria and tries to make a living in a foreign place entering the service for the local nobility. Meanwhile, Countess Olivia, who is mourning her brother, refuses to see anyone, so Viola disguises herself as a man and takes a job with Duke Orsino as his valet Cesario. Obsessed by his love for the unattainable Olivia, the Duke begins to send his valet Cesario to help him in his courtship. Olivia, however, falls in love with Cesario, and Cesario-Viola falls in love with her master, Duke Orsino. This rather hopeless love triangle is encircled by a company of merry men, courtiers and servants who concoct a plot against Olivia’s haughty butler, the pompous Puritan Malvolio. The multi-layered plot is resolved when they are joined by Viola’s twin brother Sebastian, also a shipwreck survivor. The emotions, overt and hidden, secret identities, gender fluidity (currently so now popular), the same-sex affection, all is resolved in Shakespeare’s triple marriage, as befits a Renaissance comedy. But what remains recurrently appealing in the play for contemporary audience, is a wide range of obsessions, shifting emotions, rowdiness, rude jokes, all kinds of indulgences, and the fact that vicissitudes of love can torment anyone, regardless of their status in society.

By calling his play What You Will, Shakespeare perfectly encapsulated the essence of the situation in which his comical heroes find themselves, tormented by their amorous and other aspirations. Nowadays, the title sounds strikingly contemporary. We feel that everything is at our disposal, everything is allowed, and everything is possible. But the hardest thing is to work out what we actually want. And even then, no harm will be done if the magic of the Twelfth Night, the last night of the Twelve days of Christmas, will help us make our desires come true.

Darja Dominkuš

Awards

2024

Polona Juh – Gracious Comedienne at the 32nd Days of Comedy

Branko Šturbej – Gracious Comedian at the 32nd Days of Comedy

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