TWELFTH NIGHT: GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE GIRLS.
OF THE MULTIPLE Shakespeare productions currently taking place, Queensland Theatre is staging what many argue is his greatest comedy, Twelfth Night. Set in the fictitious land of Illyria, the play centres around twins, each assumed dead by the other, in a plot pickled in mistaken identities. If all that sounds a bit familiar, take note; Twelfth Night and Shakespeare’s other twins caper, Comedy Of Errors are the blueprints for this much-copied concept.
Viola and Sebastian are twins separated in a shipwreck. To survive, Viola disguises herself as a young male servant, Cesario. But she falls in love with her employer, the Duke Orsino. The Duke is in love with the Countess Olivia, who subsequently falls for Viola (who she thinks is the male servant, Cesario). But the plot and subplots deepen when Viola’s brother Sebastian reappears, looking identical to his cross-dressed sister. It’s no coincidence that the play is sometimes known as Or What You Will.