Lesson Overview - Born Great - Twelfth Night -  Act 3 - Creative Summary and Pantomime

As always, there is a quiz.  Give it quickly - you'll need the rest of the period.

Act 3, scene 1 up to line 69

Do a normal class reading of these lines - up to line 69.  Stop for questions and point out the parts that you think are important. A few things to talk about:

The pun that opens the scene (live by the church) - the students like this joke - they've heard variants of it since they were little (dad jokes)

lines 19-21 -The play on her name is but a word.  This is kind of cool to go over, especially if you are doing the Literary Criticism Unit next with Deconstructionism

lines 61-70 - The irony of Shakespeare's fools very often being the wisest characters in the play AND Viola is aware of that.

Summary and Pantomime

You will quickly put the students into groups - you will need six groups  - But for one of the groups,  this time, you will have the class help you with casting the one scene that gets acted out (the first part of Scene 4).  Ask the students who they think - and who wants to be Malvolio.  By now, they know exactly what kind of person Malvolio is - so their instinct is usually great.  Of course, you want that person who gets to be Malvolio to also want to do it - and in the years that I did this - I never had someone turn it down.  Usually they are the most enthusiastic for wanting to perform the scene (it is the yellow garter scene).  For that Malvolio, above all, you want a student who is a good sport - and naturally funny.  The lines will do the next.

Instructions for all Groups (but Four - who will be actually acting out the scene) - these are taken from the student handout found below.

Use the Folger’s summary (at the beginning) as your guide but quickly add any points that you feel they left out – that the audience needs to know.  You will need to quickly look through the scene.  Add them directly to the Folger’s summary (in the appropriate spot).  One person should read your summary while the others ACT it out.  The more exaggerated your movements – the better!  Put on a mime show for us – with different members of your group playing different parts.  Use your body movements to show us what character it is – BE OVER THE TOP.  Keep it under 3 minutes – remember – show with your bodies what is happening in the scene.  For 4b and 4c Make sure you are only summarizing your part (this will take more work – you will need to go into more detail than the Folger Summary – and make sure you don’t do the other two parts of Scene 4)

Instructions for Group Four (acting it out)  taken directly from the student handout

Be loud – briefly plan out your movements – try to add as much of the physical comedy as you can.  Remember – Malvolio must come across as being really crazy – though he is just following the instructions on the letter from Maria – Don’t be afraid to go over the top!  Keep that insane, ridiculous smile on at all times!  Push each other!

The Prop

For Group Four I had a prop that they were instructed to use: Two lengths of Bright Yellow Lace Trim that they could put on each of Malvolio's legs  - for the yellow cross-gartered stockings referenced in Maria's letter - and the scene.  This adds to the hilarity beyond belief.

Timing

Give the students time (and room) to prepare their respective pantomime (with narration) and their one scene.  I usually gave about 10-12 minutes.  This will give you enough time to go through all of the scenes - pantomimed and acted.  Go amongst  your students and really get them to give it their all.  Give Group Four their prop (the yellow lace).  The pantomimes really have to be over the top in order to effective.  Same thing with Group Four - their Malvolio must be willing to make a total fool of himself (and to be laughed at - by characters and audience).

Here is the breakdown for what will happen in your class today:

Group One - Summary & Pantomime Scene 1, lines 70 to the end
Group Two - Summary & pantomime Scene 2
Group Three - Summary & pantomime Scene 3
Group Four - Scene 4 - lines 1 to 69  Act Out the Scene with script (and prop)
Group Five - Summary & Pantomime - Scene 4 lines 70 to 150
Group Six - Summary & Pantomime - Scene 4 lines 151 to the end of the scene

Good luck and have fun (I know we did)

Twelfth Night - Folger Shakespeare Library Edition  Paperback

Here is the description from Amazon:  The authoritative edition of Twelfth Night from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play, Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play, Scene-by-scene plot summaries, A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases, An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language, An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play, Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books, An annotated guide to further reading, Essay by Catherine Belsey.