Twelfth Night

May 4, 2012

2h 55m

★ 7.5

Overview

'Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit.' Filled with a cast of unforgettable characters, Twelfth Night combines cruelty with high comedy and the pangs of unrequited love with some of the subtlest poetry and most exquisite songs Shakespeare ever wrote. The Globe revisits its award-winning Twelfth Night of 2002 with an all-male Original Practices production, exploring clothing, music, dance and settings possible in the Globe of around 1601. Mark Rylance reprises his performance of Olivia in Twelfth Night, 10 years after its original premiere at Middle Temple Hall and The Globe. Synopsis In the household of Olivia, two campaigns are being quietly waged - one by the lovesick lord Orsino against the heart of the indifferent Olivia; the other by an alliance of servants and hangers-on against the high-handedness of her steward, the pompous Malvolio. When Orsino engages the cross-dressed Viola to plead with Olivia on his behalf, a bittersweet chain of events follows.

Genres

Comedy

Production Companies

Shakespeare's Globe

Twelfth Night Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Olivia

Mark Rylance

Viola

Johnny Flynn

Orsino

Liam Brennan

Sebastian

Samuel Barnett

Sir Toby Belch

Colin Hurley

Sir Andrew

Roger Lloyd Pack

Maria

Paul Chahidi

Malvolio

Stephen Fry

Antonio

John Paul Connolly

Feste

Peter Hamilton Dyer

Fabian

James Garnon

Priest / Valentine

Ian Drysdale

A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land. So begins a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love. The nearby households of Olivia and Orsino are overrun with passion. Even Olivia's upright housekeeper Malvolia is swept up in the madness. Where music is the food of love, and nobody is quite what they seem, anything proves possible.

6.1

National Theatre Live: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

Apr 20, 2017

Against the backdrop of Hamlet, two hapless minor characters, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, take centre stage. As the young double act stumble their way in and out of the action of Shakespeare’s iconic drama, they become increasingly out of their depth as their version of the story unfolds.

7.7

National Theatre Live: Fleabag

Sep 12, 2019

Fleabag may seem oversexed, emotionally unfiltered and self-obsessed, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. With family and friendships under strain and a guinea pig café struggling to keep afloat, Fleabag suddenly finds herself with nothing to lose.

0.0

National Theatre Live: Collaborators

Dec 1, 2011

John Hodge's Collaborators centers on an imaginary encounter between Joseph Stalin and the playwright Mikhail Bulgakov.

0.0

National Theatre Live: The Kitchen

Oct 6, 2011

The Kitchen, Arnold Wesker’s "extraordinary black comedy," is directed by Bijan Sheibani and features an ensemble cast of 29 actors. The production is set in a restaurant in 1950s London.

7.0

National Theatre Live: London Assurance

Jun 24, 2010

Grace has agreed to marry Sir Harcourt in return for his financial support of her family. At a house party in her father's place, Harcourt's son Charles also falls in love with Grace. When his father appears on the scene, he has to convince him that there is a case of mistaken identity and he is somebody else. Then Lady Gay Spanker, a married woman also visiting at the house, is persuaded by Charles to seduce his father and thus divert his attention from Grace. Much confusion and scheming ensues.

6.4

Company

Dec 10, 1996

Set in modern upper-crust Manhattan, an exploration of love and commitment as seen through the eyes of a charming perpetual bachelor questioning his single state and his enthusiastically married, slightly envious friends.

0.0

National Theatre Live: Travelling Light

Feb 9, 2012

In a remote village in Eastern Europe, around 1900, the young Motl Mendl is entranced by the flickering silent images on his father's cinematograph.

8.0

National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art

Apr 22, 2010

National Theatre Live’s 2010 broadcast of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour, returns to cinemas as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.

10.0

National Theatre Live: The Comedy of Errors

Mar 1, 2012

Separated at birth, two sets of twins collide in the same city for one crazy day, as multiple mistaken identities lead to confusion on a grand scale.

5.5

Much Ado About Nothing

Feb 5, 1967

Dame Maggie Smith stars in the 1967 screen version of Franco Zeffirelli's exuberant National Theatre production of Shakespeare's romantic comedy, in which young lovers Hero and Claudio conspire to make sharp-tongued rivals Beatrice and Benedick fall in love with each other.

7.6

Pippin

Jan 1, 1981

A mysterious performance troupe led by a Leading Player tells the story of Pippin, a young prince on his search for meaning and significance. Taped at Hamilton Place in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

6.0

National Theatre Live: Much Ado About Nothing

Sep 8, 2022

Since the 1930s, the legendary family-run Hotel Messina has been visited by artists, celebrities and royalty.  When the current owner’s daughter falls for a dashing young soldier, the hallways are ringing with the sound of wedding bells.  However, not all the guests are in the mood for love, and a string of deceptions soon surround not only the young couple, but also the steadfastly single Beatrice and Benedick.

8.0

Newsies

Feb 16, 2017

A week in the life of the exploited, child newspaper sellers in turn-of-the-century New York. When their publisher, Joseph Pulitzer, tries to squeeze a little more profit out of their labours, they organize a strike, only to be confronted with the Pulitzer's hard-ball tactics.

8.1

Legally Blonde: The Musical

Oct 13, 2007

Fashionable sorority queen Elle Woods has it all, but, she wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But he dumps her before heading to Harvard Law School. Elle rallies all of her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. While there, she figures out that there is more to herself than just good looks.

10.0

The Man Who Came to Dinner

Oct 7, 2000

Broadcast of a live performance of the Roundabout Theater Company's 2000 New York revival of the classic Kaufman-Hart comedy, about a famous (and famously acid-tongued) theater critic who is forced to stay in a Midwestern couple's home and the havoc that ensues.

5.2

Annie Live!

Dec 2, 2021

Annie, the beloved seven-time Tony Award-winning Broadway sensation, comes to life like never before in a live musical event starring Harry Connick, Jr., Nicole Scherzinger, Tituss Burgess, Megan Hilty and Taraji P. Henson, with newcomer Celina Smith in the title role of Annie. The iconic musical follows smart and spirited little orphan Annie, whose whole life changes when larger-than-life billionaire Daddy Warbucks takes her away from an orphanage run by the mean Miss Hannigan. One of Broadway's all-time biggest hits, the stage production features such popular songs as "Tomorrow" and "It's the Hard Knock Life," which are adored by generations of audiences around the world.

7.4

Company: A Musical Comedy

Feb 20, 2008

6.7

Peter Pan

Dec 8, 1960

In this magical tale about the boy who refuses to grow up, Peter Pan and his mischievous fairy sidekick Tinkerbell visit the nursery of Wendy, Michael and John Darling. With a sprinkling of pixie dust, Peter and his new friends fly out the nursery window and over London to Never-Never Land. The children experience many wonderful and exciting adventures with the Lost Boys, Tiger Lily's Indian tribe, and Peter's arch enemy the dastardly pirate Captain Hook.

7.8

Kiss Me, Kate

Feb 26, 2003

A pair of divorced actors are brought together to participate in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, the couple seem to act a great deal like the characters they play, and they must work together when mistaken identities get them mixed up with the mafia.