Meeting Feste and Malvio – ‘Twelfth Night’
Rehearsals continue in School this week for this year’s Shakespeare On The Lawn performance of Twelfth Night, and we recently had the opportunity to meet and speak with Year 9’s Noah and Isaac who have been casted as Feste and Malvolio respectively. With continued warm weather the opportunity to rehearse on the Chapel lawn where the performance will take place has been wonderful and certainly helps students understand the setting as well as imagine the staging which is yet to be put into place.
Having been a company member in two past whole School musicals, Noah who plays Feste is also a superb singer and musician. Working with Miss Weston separately to rehearsals, he’s quickly and skillfully learned the song he will perform, Come Away Death. “As well as learning the song we’ve been recording the backing track, it’s great to have the opportunity to not only act but to sing in the performance. Rehearsing with Miss Mayes and Mr Williams gives us all the opportunity to not only go through our lines but to understand them from a language and staging point of view – we often run through the same line several times, each of us offering our thoughts and interjection about meaning as well as position on stage and movement. It’s great to be able to work collaboratively with them, as well as the other students involved in the play.”
Isaac echoes Noah’s thoughts about rehearsals, “Working together means we each have an opportunity to consider and suggest the best way to communicate with the audience, as well as understand what it is we’re saying and trying to convey. Playing Malvolio is a real pleasure, I’m nervously excited as this is my debut performance, but he’s a great character to play – I’m learning a lot about him, and about me!”
Twelfth Night will not only be watched by fellow students, family and friends this year, but by Old Woodbridgians who played parts in the first production of this particular Shakespeare at School. Invited to attend the event with our Head of School Miss Norman and Stephen Cole (President of the OWs) it’s sure to be a delight to watch and to reminisce.
