CODA will be returning to Wandle Park this year with Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. This will be their fourth Shakespeare production in the bandstand after previous successes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and Romeo & Juliet.
Performances
| Wednesday 31 July 2024 | 19:30 |
| Thursday 1 August 2024 | 19:30 |
| Friday 2 August 2024 | 19:30 |
| Saturday 3 August 2024 | 14:30 |
| Saturday 3 August 2024 | 19:30 |
Park Information
Box Office
Box Office Coming Soon
Artistic Team
Directors – Michael Hall and Kit Allen
Auditions Dates
Dates: Tuesday 14th & Wednesday 15th May 2024.
Location: St. Peter’s Church Room, South Croydon, CR0 1EZ.
Please email secretary@codashows.co.uk to book a slot.
Audition Characters/Pieces
Don’t worry about age, gender, or type, you can audition for anything! We have no prepared idea of what we are looking for, so go for your ideas! Productions have been mounted with female actors playing Malvolio, Fabian, Feste or Sea Captain, but don’t let that limit your ambitions.
There is no need to learn the lines, but please be familiar with them. Please ask if there are words which you are unfamiliar with.
VIOLA
A young woman of aristocratic birth, and the play’s protagonist. Washed up on the shore of Illyria when her ship is wrecked in a storm, Viola decides to make her own way in the world. She disguises herself as a young man, calling herself “Cesario,” and becomes a page to Duke Orsino. She ends up falling in love with Orsino—even as Olivia, the woman Orsino is courting, falls in love with Cesario. Thus, Viola finds that her clever disguise has entrapped her: she cannot tell Orsino that she loves him, and she cannot tell Olivia why she, as Cesario, cannot love her. Her poignant plight is the central conflict in the play.
ORSINO
A powerful nobleman in the country of Illyria. Orsino is lovesick for the beautiful Lady Olivia but becomes more and more fond of his handsome new page boy, Cesario, who is Viola in disguise. Orsino is a vehicle through which the play explores the absurdity of love: Orsino mopes around complaining how heartsick he is over Olivia, when it is clear that he is chiefly in love with the idea of being in love. His attraction to the ostensibly male Cesario may inject a degree of sexual ambiguity into his character.
OLIVIA
A wealthy, beautiful, and noble Illyrian lady, niece to Sir Toby Belch. Olivia is courted by Orsino and Sir Andrew Aguecheek but to each of them she insists that she is in mourning for her brother, who has recently died, and will not marry for seven years. Viola’s arrival in the masculine guise of Cesario enables Olivia to break free of her (self-indulgent?) melancholy. An ice maiden who melts.
SEBASTIAN
Viola’s lost twin brother. When he arrives in Illyria, traveling with Antonio, his close friend and protector, Sebastian discovers that many people think that they know him. Furthermore, the beautiful Lady Olivia, whom he has never met, wants to marry him. Sebastian remains confused until his sister reveals herself.
MALVOLIO
The straitlaced steward – or head servant – in the household of Lady Olivia. Malvolio is very efficient but also very self-righteous, and has a poor opinion of drinking, singing, and fun. His priggishness and haughty attitude earn him the enmity of Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Maria, who play a cruel trick on him, making him believe that Olivia is in love with him. In his fantasies about marrying his mistress, he reveals a powerful ambition to rise above his social class.
FESTE
The clown, or fool, of Olivia’s household, Feste moves between Olivia’s and Orsino’s homes, earning a living by making pointed jokes, singing old songs, being generally witty, and offering good advice cloaked under a layer of foolishness. Despite being a professional fool, Feste often seems the wisest character in the play. It’s quite possible that Feste knows that “Cesario” is really a woman. Actor will need to sing.
SIR TOBY BELCH
Olivia’s uncle. Olivia lets Sir Toby Belch live with her, but she does not approve of his rowdy behaviour, practical jokes, heavy drinking, late-night carousing, or friends (specifically the idiotic Sir Andrew). Sir Toby also earns the ire of Malvolio. But Sir Toby has an ally, and eventually a mate, in Olivia’s sharp-witted waiting-gentlewoman, Maria. Together they bring about the triumph of chaotic spirit, which Sir Toby embodies, and the ruin of the controlling, self-righteous Malvolio. Happens to have the most lines in the play.
MARIA
Olivia’s clever, daring young waiting-gentlewoman. Maria is remarkably similar to her antagonist, Malvolio, who harbours aspirations of rising in the world through marriage. But Maria ultimately succeeds where Malvolio fails – perhaps because she is a woman, but, more likely, because she is more in tune with the anarchic, topsy-turvy spirit that animates the play.
SIR ANDREW AGUECHEEK
A friend of Sir Toby’s. Sir Andrew Aguecheek attempts to court Olivia, but he doesn’t stand a chance. He thinks that he is witty, brave, young, and good at languages and dancing, but he is actually none of these things. Posh but dim.
ANTONIO
A man who rescues Sebastian after his shipwreck. Antonio has become very fond of Sebastian, caring for him, accompanying him to Illyria, and furnishing him with money – all because of a strong love – the nature of which is up to the actor’s interpretation.
FABIAN
A servant in Olivia’s household. Takes part in the gulling of Malvolio.
SEA CAPTAIN
A friend to Viola.
VALENTINE & CURIO
Attendants to the Duke Orsino
PRIEST
Marries Olivia and Sebastian, then confirms the wedding in the final scene.
OFFICERS
Arrest Antonio and keep him under guard.