The Bard beyond binaries

After a critically-acclaimed run at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, a ‘Summer of Love’-themed co-production of Twelfth Night at Bristol Old Vic has flipped the script on Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedic masterpiece to explore the performance of gender in a different light.

Duke Orsino is played by female actor Colette Dalal Tchantcho

It is not the first time Twelfth Night has attracted queer readings given the content. Much of the play’s drama centres on three characters – Viola, Duke Orsino and Olivia. Viola, dressed as a shipwrecked man named Cesario, enters the employment of Duke Orsino.

Whilst in male drag, Viola is asked to act as a go-between for the Duke as he woos Olivia but, most unhelpfully, Olivia doesn’t fall in love with the Duke as he had hoped, but with his helpful servant Cesario.

To complicate issues further, Viola (still dressed as a man) secretly falls in love with her boss, the Duke.

From the rock-star costumes to the music, this version of Twelfth Night has a ‘Summer of Love’ theme

Director Wils Wilson says that at the end of Twelfth Night she is always disappointed the audience is left with conventional, heterosexual couples: “Everyone is meant to applaud that and I wanted to complicate that last picture. The exploration of masculinity and femininity can be left more open-ended.”

But how easy is it to cast a woman to play a man’s role? “Orsino is still portrayed as a man but is played by a female actor,” Wils explains, “and it made us consider the performance of gender in more detail.” Wils says, to do that, the company tried to place where each of the characters would fall on a scale from masculine to feminine: “The way you interpret your gender seems to affect every aspect of your outlook on people and the world around you,” Wils says.

Director Wils Wilson, says the 60s theme reflects the experimental style of her production

These readings help challenge the notion that sex determines gender – a misconception that underpins many challenges that still face members of the LGBT+ community. It is also a reading, Wils says, that is authentically Shakespearean: “The original plays had men playing women, for goodness’ sake!”

Shakespeare’s works are revisited time and again, and with each new meeting, directors and audiences discover a new side to these timeless stories. Whether on stage or screen, fluid interpretations have brought us some of our most beloved Shakespeare productions. From Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet to 10 Things I Hate About You, these films from the 1990s have become synonymous with the decade they represented: the fashion, culture and values.

The cast question what role gender should play in this cross-dressing comedy

So, if someone was looking back on this production, what does Wils think it would tell them about theatre in 2018? “Whether we’re yet at a tipping point or not, it is clear there is a movement of young people who want to explore gender and they are teaching people of my generation a lot.”

The character of Malvolio is equally important to Wils’ reading of Twelfth Night. The final scene leaves Malvolio shamed and furious and his final line has particular power in the #MeToo era, says actor Christopher Green. “Aggressive masculinity is being challenged but what happens when these men are brought to reckoning? What happens to that shame and anger those men are feeling? Malvolio’s last line is, “I shall be avenged on the whole pack of you”, and I think we should all – queer men and women, alike – be mindful of what will happen in the future,” Christopher says.

The production has been critically acclaimed after its debut run in Edinburgh

Christopher says playing the role of Malvolio brought many challenges because it was clear from the outset that he and Wils wanted to depict him as a male impersonator. “Malvolio is guessing how to be a man and as we get him to perform traditionally masculine traits he becomes a parody. It is very knowing for me, as a queer man, to be doing that,” Christopher says.

“As gay men, we often have to learn how to perform masculinity and it can be very artificially constructed. But I think many of us know it is something we feel that we need to ‘turn on’ so that we may ‘pass’.”

In order to explore the gender of these characters, Wils employed a movement director. Wils recalls that, at one point, movement director Emma “pointed to a cast member and said, ‘you’re clapping in a female-gendered way. Look at how a man claps. He has space under the arms, one arm moves and the other is stationary’. It was interesting to work with Emma to pick that apart and Emma, who has a lot of experience working with drag kings to draw upon, had some really invaluable insights.”

Twelfth Night is playing at Bristol Old Vic until November 17. For more information and to book tickets, visit www.bristololdvic.org.uk.