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Twelfth Night, or What You Will

cutting and notes by John Minigan from the original by Shakespeare

After a shipwreck, Viola finds herself stranded on the shores of Ilyria, disguised as a boy, and falling in love with her boss. And that's just the beginning! Love, comedy, and confusion abound in Twelfth Night.

Comedy Classical Adaptation Shakespeare Shakespeare in an Hour

Average Producer Rating:

Recommended for High Schools and Middle Schools

Running Time

About 45 minutes

Approximate; excludes intermissions and scene changes

Cast

15 Characters

6 M | 3 F | 6 Any Gender, Doubling Possible

Set

Simple Set

Length

33 pages

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Performance Royalty Fees

Royalty fees apply to all performances whether or not admission is charged. Any performance in front of an audience (e.g. an invited dress rehearsal) is considered a performance for royalty purposes.

Exemption details for scenes and monologues for competition.

15 Characters
6 M, 3 F, 6 Any Gender, Doubling Possible

Characters in this play are currently identified as male or female. Directors are welcome to assign any gender (binary or non-binary) to any character and modify pronouns accordingly.

ORSINO [M] 40 lines

Duke of Illyria.

SEBASTIAN [M] 22 lines

A young man from Messaline. Viola's twin brother.

SIR TOBY BELCH [M] 79 lines

Olivia's uncle. He loves parties and is often drunk.

SIR ANDREW AGUECHEEK [M] 40 lines

Sir Toby's friend. A knight. He is not very bright and not as appreciated by Sir Toby as he thinks he is.

MALVOLIO [M] 44 lines

Olivia's overly stern butler. He is secretly in love with Olivia.

VIOLA (pronounced VY-oh-lah) [F] 72 lines

A young woman from Messaline. Sebastian's twin sister. Later disguised as Cesario, a boy.

OLIVIA [F] 78 lines

A Countess. As the play begins, she is in mourning for the death of her brother.

MARIA (pronounced Ma-RY-ah) [F] 29 lines

Olivia's chambermaid, secretly attracted to Sir Toby.

FESTE [A] 44 lines

An entertainer. The fool.

FABIAN [A] 26 lines

Servant to Olivia. Friend of Sir Toby and Sir Andrew.

ANTONIO/ANTONIA [A] 20 lines

A pirate-like sailor. Friend of Sebastian.

CAPTAIN [A] 8 lines

The Captain of the ship Viola and Sebastian were on.

VALENTINE/VALENTINA [A] 1 line

Servant to Duke Orsino.

CURIO/CURIA [A] 2 lines

Servant to Duke Orsino.

PRIEST [M] 1 line

OFFICERS/SAILORS/MUSICIANS/ATTENDANTS [A] 8 lines

Praise for Twelfth Night, or What You Will

Shawnasea Holst

Shawnee Mission Northwest

I loved this adaptation of Twelfth Night. It was a good runtime and pace to keep everything running smoothly, but we didn't feel like this version cut too much for everyone to easily grasp the plot. My students were intimidated by the language at first- but we worked through that easily and used a TON of physical humor to help make sure the comedy played well.

Mary Beth Wainwright

Tri County Co-Op

We heard many a laugh throughout the night, so 'our' comedy was a success!