Twelfth Night KIDSBILL

PLAY ON

NOV 10-14

KIDSBILL

PLAY ON IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE, PLAY ON

William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the world's greatest dramatist (a person who writes plays). His works, including collaborations, include some 39 plays and 154 sonnets (a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes). His plays have been translated into every major language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's most popular and musical of all his comedies, and its staging continues to delight audiences all over the world. It was a play written for a party. Christians in England used to celebrate the birth of Christ for twelve days. The twelve days culminated in the wild, masked Twelfth Night Festival. By the time Shakespeare was writing, Twelfth Night had become a true feast of fools. It was a day when the rules of good conduct were suspended, and people wore masks to hide their identity. The celebration included a Twelfth Night Cake, which was an elaborate cake that was baked with a pea or coin concealed inside. Whoever received the slice containing the object was named the “Festus” and presided over the night’s folly. “Festus” is where Shakespeare’s clown, Feste, gets his name. Anyone, no matter what their social status was, could become the “Festus.”

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

1564

William is born in Stratford-UponAvon.

1582

1585

William marries Anne Hathaway and starts a family (they have a daughter, followed by twins).

William moves to London and begins his theatrical career.

2

1589

William’s first plays are a success.

SHAKESPEARE’S FAMOUS PLAYS WORD SEARCH COMEDYOFERRORS TEMPEST TWELFTHNIGHT JULIUSCAESAR OTHELLO ASYOULIKEIT ROMEOANDJULIET HAMLET KINGLEAR MACBETH

P H W D H O L L E H T O L F I M X

H J N S T Z R T I T N K G F B X H

A V Y C E O M A H Y M B T G T O P

F R M O M H A J E O D B F I C G X

S O Q M P T C H Z L I H E Z X Y R

L M F E E P B S N S G K W T A J A

C E B D S L E U S K I N O R Q C S

Q O E Y T E T H D L A Y I S G C E

K A J O R E H U U J N T X K J O A

Q N K F X J B O Z D G H F N Y M C

P D T E H O Y T U M Z A S X F J S

C J C R P S I T S B D M V Y H F U

M U A R A Q C B U I M L I E U D I

Z L I O P J F R A X X E K Y J X L

P I U R A H Z W V Y X T A T J B U

C E F S T H G I N H T F L E W T J

M T X Y O I H F L U T H Q B V C U

IS THIS PLAY REALLY WRITTEN IN ENGLISH? Yes, it is! But it’s also poetry. During the Renaissance people used poetry for the same reason we still use it today: to express heightened states of emotion.

DID PEOPLE IN SHAKESPEARE’S DAY SPEAK IN VERSE? No, no more than we speak in rap today. But people both then and now enjoy the rhythm and rhyme of verse. It helps us tune in more immediately to the feelings of the characters.

IS SHAKESPEARE HARDER FOR ACTORS TO PERFORM THAN OTHER PLAYS? Actually, for most actors, Shakespeare is easier! The rhythm of the language makes it easy to memorize (similar to how song lyrics get stuck in your head).

1594

William becomes a founding member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men Acting Company.

1599

1616

William’s acting company builds the famous Globe Theatre.

William dies at the age of 52 and is buried in the chancel of the Holy Trinity Church.

3

1623

William’s plays are published in the First Folio. (1,000 copies were printed, 238 survive today)

WORD ON THE STREET A Rhyming Couplet is two lines of the same length that rhyme and complete one thought. There is no limit to the length of the lines. Characters will often speak in rhyme when it’s the end of an act or they’ve made a decision. At the end of Act I, Olivia makes a decision to surrender to her love for Cesario: I do I know not what, and fear to FIND

Mine eye to great a flatterer for my MIND.

Fate, show thy force, ourselves we do not OWE What is decreed must be—and be this SO.

When you see the show, listen for other rhymes and think about why Shakespeare might have chosen to use them when he did.

Try to write your own poetry with rhyming couplets: (We would love to read your poetry. You can share it with us on Instagram by tagging @mtwichita and using the hashtag #poetry)

Twelfth Night takes place in Illyria, which was once a real country (in a region on the Adriatic coast). By the Renaissance, however, it no longer existed. It was only a name that was used to refer to an exotic place in “the East.”

4

WORST YOU’RE THE

Feste, the professional fool in the play, is especially cruel to his friend, Sir Toby Belch, when he sings “You’re the Worst.” While trying to be funny, he holds nothing back when he loudly sings about Sir Toby’s shortcomings and calls him all kinds of mean names. Feste is being quite the bully. No one likes to be bullied.

However, at some time or another, we have all played the role of a bully.

Sometimes what starts out as a joke can turn into something much worse. Look at the silly pranks that Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Feste, and Maria play on Malvolio that culminate in Malvolio being cruelly imprisoned in darkness. We feel sorry for Malvolio, although we laughed at him earlier in the play. The joke has gone too far and has become bullying and we, the audience, are complicit in it too.

In the crossword below, let’s look at a few ways we can avoid being a bully, along with some strategies to help us when we are the ones being bullied.

ACROSS

3. Don’t ___ on things that make you angry.

6. ____ to the other person’s point of view.

9. Seek ____ who are encouraging & kind.

10. ____ away from bad situations.

12. ____ people who always try to fight.

DOWN

1. Speak ____.

2. Talk to a trusted ____ about your feelings.

4. ____ can make the world a better place.

5. Everyone is unique & ____.

7. Count to ____.

8. Treat other people like you want to be ____.

11. Let the little things ____.

1 2 3

4

6

8 5

9

10

11

12

5

7

EYES ANOTHER OF

THE

If we’d see through the eyes of another, what a better world it could be! Visit youtube.com/watch?v=CRmGnddazKM and sing along (with the lyrics below) to "Eyes of Another" from Shaina Taub’s Twelfth Night!

Let’s trade places for a day You be me and I’ll be you You walk my street I’ll wear your shoes Meet me here when day is done We‘ll switch back to our own skin And tell each other where we been Sayin’ I had no clue, I had no clue what you go through I just assumed, but I assumed things that ain‘t true But I feel where you’re coming from Cause now I been there too And I see through the eyes of another Share a time when you Eyes of another

Hear through the ears of somebody else If we’d open our hearts to each other’s beat What a better world it could be What a better What, what a better What a better What, what a better What a better What, what A better world it could be One, two, three!

If we’d see through the eyes of another Eyes of another Hear through the ears of somebody else If we’d open our hearts to each other’s beat What a better world it could be What a better world it could be

6

understood someone better after seeing things from their point of view:

When you see “through the eyes of another” you often see things quite differently, as Viola did when she was disguised as Cesario. Try looking at the words below in a different perspective. Using the letters from each word, create a new word in the spaces provided. Some words have more than one correct answer!

1. CAST __ __ __ __ 2. NIGHT __ __ __ __ __ 3. LORE __ __ __ __ 4. VIOLA __ __ __ __ __ 5. ANDREW __ __ __ __ __ __ 6. LISTEN __ __ __ __ __ __ 7. SWAP __ __ __ __ 8. STAGE __ __ __ __ __ 9. UPRISERS __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 10. TESTING __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 11. DEAR __ __ __ __

7

DEFINITELY BROADWAY UNIQUELY WICHITA

Music Theatre for Young People is coming under the auspices of MTWichita starting December 1, 2022!

Watch our website at mtwichita.org and our Facebook page for information about auditions, our winter/spring show, summer camps, etc.

Illustrations, activities, and design: Danielle Quint

PAGE P H A 3F H W D H O L L E H T O L F I M X

J N S T Z R T I T N K G F B X H

V Y C E O M A H Y M B T G T O P

R M O M H A J E O D B F I C G X

PAGE 7

S O Q M P T C H Z L I H E Z X Y R

L M F E E P B S N S G K W T A J A

C E B D S L E U S K I N O R Q C S

Q O E Y T E T H D L A Y I S G C E

SOLUTIONS

K A J O R E H U U J N T X K J O A

1. CAST=ACTS=CATS 2. NIGHT=THING 3. LORE = ROLE 4. VIOLA=VOILA

Q N K F X J B O Z D G H F N Y M C

P D T E H O Y T U M Z A S X F J S

C J C R P S I T S B D M V Y H F U

M U A R A Q C B U I M L I E U D I

Z L I O P J F R A X X E K Y J X L

P I U R A H Z W V Y X T A T J B U

C E F S T H G I N H T F L E W T J

PAGE 5

M T X Y O I H F L U T H Q B V C U

C

1

A

A

2

D W 4E L L

3

V

U

E

L

R

T T

Y

8 9

F R E

I

G

A V O I

12

5. ANDREW=WANDER= WARDEN=WARNED 6. LISTEN=SILENT 7. SWAP=WASP=PAWS 8

O

I

S

7

T E N

E

N

5

E

P

E

T

C

D

A

E

11

L

Y

E N D S

W A L K

10

M

6

I

L

8. STAGE=GATES 9. UPRISERS=SURPRISE=SPURRIES 10. TESTING= SETTING 11. DEAR=READ=DARE