Activity 15: Viola’s Dilemma
 
 
  Objectives

During this activity you will examine the subtext of six extracts from Act 3 Scene 1 of Twelfth Night and consider how an actor might communicate this to the audience. You will think about the performance space on which this play was first performed and consider how it might be staged today.
 
 
  Outcomes

By working through this activity you will:
 
 
complete the thought bubbles in a storyboard of extracts from Act 3 Scene 1
 
 
create frames to illustrate your own ideas for staging this scene.
 
 
  Resources

To complete the activities you will need access to:
 
 
Kar2ouche Rehearsal Room Content Library
 
 
Sheet 15.1 Staging Ideas
 
 


  Activities
 
 
  Introduction
 
 
  1. First read the text and/or listen to the audio files of Act 1 Scene 1 of Twelfth Night.
 
 


  Development
 
 
  2. Open the Act 3 Scene 1 storyboard. Here you will find six extracts from the scene. There are prompt questions in the caption windows of each frame to help you. Work through each frame typing your responses to the questions in the caption windows and recording the dialogue.
 
 
To open the Act 3 Scene 1 storyboard
 
 
  3. Your next task is to outline your ideas for an effective set for this scene. Open the Staging Ideas storyboard, and use the first three frames, which contain images of the Globe Theatre, to show how this scene might have been staged in Shakespeare’s time. In the blank frames which follow, set out your own ideas for staging this scene. There is a sheet of prompt questions (Sheet 15.1 Staging Ideas) to help you with this task.
 
 
To open the Staging Ideas storyboard
 
 


  Plenary
 
 
  4. During this session you will be able to see the work that the rest of your class has done on this scene and discuss the different opinions and approaches that emerge.
 
 


  Extension/Homework
 
 
  5. Use the ideas in both your storyboards to help you to answer the following examination question. In the exam you will have to answer this question in 45 minutes.
 
 
  Refer to Act 3 Scene 1, from the exit of the clown to the end of the scene.
(i) What is the challenge for an actor performing the part of Viola in this scene?(ii) What type of set would be effective for this scene?
 
 




©1999 - 2008 Immersive Education Ltd and the University of Oxford
Kar2ouche is the registered property of Immersive Education Ltd.
Visit http://www.immersiveeducation.com for more information.