RSC - TWELFTH NIGHT
PHOTO BY ANDREW FOX
Hess on the music for Twelfth Night, who you’ve worked with before. How big a part does music play in the whole feeling of the production? I think there's more music specified in the text of Twelfth Night than in any other Shakespeare play. There's the famous line 'If music be the food of love, play on', and the characters quite often break into song or play instruments. We're visualising Orsino in the city, and we've given him a bachelor pad based on Leighton House in Holland Park. It's chic and glamorous, and gives his material a very particular feel.
make an audience laugh. But anyone who saw Ade in War and Peace on television will know that he's also a wonderful straight actor, and he'll be expert at finding what really makes Malvolio tick.
I’m setting the three scenes that take place between these locations in railway stations, as the characters travel back and forth. The set designer, Simon Higlett, has worked wonders to conjure up all these different worlds.
Similarly, I've been keen to work with Kara Tointon. She's also well-known from her television work, but is a brilliant stage actress, and has the wit and intelligence that is needed to play Olivia. I know that both Ade and Kara are very excited to be making their RSC debut in Twelfth Night - it's a play that all actors seem to love.
Ade Edmondson is playing the role of Malvolio. What do you think he’ll bring to that comic role being known for being a comedian and playing comedy roles on TV? Ade and I have been trying to find a play to do together for quite a long time now. I wanted someone for Malvolio who has 'funny bones' - an actor who is instinctively funny, and doesn't have to work too hard to
You’re working with composer Nigel
I'm lucky to have a composer like Nigel, who is a past master at setting Shakespeare's verse to glorious, tuneful music, and who seems to be able to compose in any style. In this instance, we're specifically recreating the popular music of the late 19th Century, so there's lots of reference to Music Hall, parlour ballads, Gilbert and Sullivan - as well as a nod to Chopin and Liszt! Music, rather like lighting and design, can be so helpful in creating an atmosphere that suits the play, and Twelfth Night has given Nigel a huge range of possibilities. But I think it's fair to say that the overall feel will be Romantic with a capital ‘R'.
Twelfth Night plays in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 2 November 2017 - 24 February 2018. Visit www.rsc.org.uk for booking and further details.
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