Quote of the Day for 8/11/24 from Twelfth Night, eventually

I spent my first year after high school at a local community college where I took a drama class. I didn’t audition for the first fall production, Bus Stop, because getting a part would mean quitting my weekend job at the movie theater (and all those free movies and free popcorn and soda), but when there were auditions for Twelfth Night, I decided to go for it.

I’ll admit when I first tried to read through the script I found it fairly incomprehensible. Cliff Notes helped me figure it out. As in many Shakespeare comedies, mistaken identities are central to the plot and star-crossed lovers abound.

An instructor at the school directed the play and cast himself in the plum role of Malvolio. I’m pretty sure that was the entire reason the play was chosen that season. I was cast as Sir Andrew Aguecheek, the greatest fool in a play full of fools. In the last century, Alec Guinness, Christopher Plummer, and Paul Scofield, all played the role on stage, and Richard E. Grant in a film adaptation. I, um, wasn’t as good as those gentlemen. I may have done as poorly in the part as anyone who has ever attempted the role.

The director seemed much more concerned about his role than anyone else’s. He just encouraged us to find our own bits of business to perform. I thought it would be funny to use a trademark laugh, a really annoying laugh. So I came up with a donkey bray with stops and starts and a bit of a hiccup. And I used it frequently. About a week before opening, the director asked me to tone it down a bit. The character is an idiot, but I was perhaps type cast a bit too well, as I didn’t always understand all the lines spoken in my scenes. During the sword fight, I asked if I could fall and roll down a staircase. That was allowed and it was my best moment in the show.

So, the play went on.

My high school drama teacher came to the show. After the show, he said, “I can’t believe the director let you use that laugh.” He made it clear he thought I was capable of much better work. Another drama friend from high school and college had a more succinct review: “Yuck.”

GreenStage - Shakespeare in the Park - Sir Andrew 8/9/24

What brought this all to mind? This last week, Mrs. Scrubb and I went with friends to see Twelfth Night at Volunteer Park here in Seattle. It was so very much better than the production I was a part of (even though the role of Duke Orsino was played by an actor given only two hours notice, so he needed to hold a script throughout.)

But this is the Quote of the Day, so I really should be done talking about me and share a Twelfth Night quote.

Should I go with the opening line, “If music be the food of love, play on”? I’ve never really understood what that line meant, so no.

How about, “Many a good hanging prevents a bad marriage”? It’s a funny line, but I don’t really approve of the sentiment.

Maybe, “If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction”? Shakespeare was getting in early on the Meta and the breaking of the fourth wall. What would he have thought about that leading to Deadpool and Wolverine?

The best-remembered line from the play, the one most people use without being aware of where it comes from is, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.” It seems to apply to so many “leaders” of our day. But, say, our Veep is in no way great, she’s just had power thrust upon her.

But for my Quote of the Day from Twelfth Night, I believe I have to go with, “Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?” spoken by Sir Toby Belch to Malvolio. Malvolio was a parody of Puritans, but we have a different virtue in our day.

Today, “Because I have the correct view on climate change, and I must travel in a private jet because my work is so important, you must use mass transit, do without air conditioning, and eat bugs.”

“Because I have the morally correct view on gender, you must share restrooms and locker rooms with people of our choosing and your daughters will lose their athletic scholarships.”

“Because we have the experts' opinions on diet, you will have to do without cakes and ale.” Some things never really change.