12th Night



The opening sequence of a film, like the opening scenes of a play, must catch the audience’s attention and engage their interest, making them eager to know what happens in the rest of the story. It must also set the scene for where the action is to take place, give clues as to the major characters and indicate what type of story we are about to hear and see. A play will often start 'in media res' that is to say in the middle of the action. We are filled in on what has happened before by the characters themselves talking about events. A film is more likely to begin by showing us events, because films place more emphasis upon what we see rather than what we hear.

Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night starts in the court of Orsino, Duke of Illyria as he discusses his love for Olivia with his friends. When Trevor Nunn decided to adapt Twelfth Night for film, he chose to start the action aboard the ship from which Viola and her brother are shipwrecked. We are now going to look at these two versions of the same text, the play and the film, and try to say how each tells the story and the differences that each media makes to the telling.

Your task is now to be a detective, looking for clues in the opening extracts as to what will happen in the rest of the story. You may need to watch the film extract several times and read the play extract several times in order to answer the questions in enough detail.

Extract 1: Trevor Nunn’s film of Twelfth Night. Watch the opening sequence of film until the point that Viola lands on the beach, and fill in chart 1.

Extract 2: Shakespeare’s play of Twelfth Night. Read Act I Scene I and II and fill in chart 2. For each one of the questions, make a note of the lines in the play which give you this information.

When you have got the information you need on both charts, use it to write out your answers in proper sentences. Then try to answer the following questions: Shakespeare had only words to tell his story; what different ways did Trevor Nunn have of getting his information across? What are the advantages and disadvantages of telling the story using a) film and b) written text? Shakespeare’s plays were written to be performed on stage, not just read. How would you make the opening sequence exciting for the audience watching the play? Why do you think the film and play start the action in different places? What effect on the story does this have?

The voice-over Throughout the opening sequence we hear a voice-over, like the voice of a storyteller, introducing us to what is going on. The words that he says are not part of Shakespeare’s play; they have been made up for the purposes of this film. However, they do sound as if they were written at the time of Shakespeare. Look at the voice-over below and say: What words and phrases sound as if they were from Shakespeare’s time? How does the order of the words make it sound as if it were written in Shakespeare’s time? How does the rhythm of the lines sound like Shakespeare? (Compare the voice-over with the speech of the Captain, Act I scene II lines 7 – 16) The last two lines have been written as a rhyming couplet. Find another example of this in the scenes you have read.

	VOICE-OVER Once, upon Twelfth Night, or What You Will... Aboard a ship bound home for Messaline The festive company dressed for masquerade and songs Each other to amuse, delight above the rest In two young twins… The storm has forced their vessel from its course And now they strike upon submergèd rocks... Uncertain what to leave and what to save Brother and sister, orphaned since their father’s death Have but themselves, alone in all the world... Deep currents and the sinking barque above Divide what naught hath kept apart... The poor survivors reach an alien shore For Messaline with this country is at war.

		Top \| Introduction \| Hamlet \| Macbeth \| Resources

		©