Dramaturgical Note

 

"O time! thou must untangle this, not I;
It is too hard a knot for me to untie!" Viola, Act II Scene I

 The holiday of Twelfth Night invites the spirit of the carnivalesque to upend our sense of normality and societal order. As a holiday that marks the end of the Christmas season, perhaps there is no better time to break out of the oppressive norms brought on by gender, sexuality, and reality itself. 

 The connections between a play written 423 years ago and the present day are not as disparate as you may think. It’s no secret that homosexual relations between men were illegal during Shakespeare’s life. However, for an act punishable by death, it was rarely actually punished. The Anglophone stage itself was rife with subversions of this law. Actors would often live together, commonly as “bedfellows." Male actors portrayed all characters, including women, creating a long history of drag performance in the public sphere. Even pirates like Antonio, and by association Sebastian, had concepts of marriage between men in their seafaring communities. Twelfth Night allows Shakespeare to play with this gender inversion even further by writing characters that crossdress and blur the lines between sexualities. Disguise and mistaken identity run rampant in this world, yet Shakespeare allows the characters to simply love who they love with no question or explanation. 

 While homosexuality is not currently illegal in the United States, major laws protecting LGBTQ+ rights, especially those concerning transgender individuals, are being attacked as we sit in this theater. Perhaps we can take a few pages out of Shakespeare’s book when examining our own lives. Twelfth Night itself is evidence that freedom of identity is an integral part of a prosperous life. The beauty of the journey lies in self-discovery and acceptance that there may be no final destination. Humans are an ever-changing, constantly learning species, and any limits placed on that process is a hindrance to society as a whole. No matter what happens on the legal level, Shakespeare’s play proves that our small communities will always provide the support necessary for our survival. Love doesn’t come from judges or regimes, it comes from each other. 

 Do you know exactly who you are? Appearances may not be what they seem. Join us in this world where the Lord of Misrule rules all, and everything you think you know may be turned on its head without warning. Change is unavoidable, so play, learn, and allow yourself to grow. 

Henry Ray Steinmetz ‘26
Dramaturg