Describe anything memorable or unusual about the experience
Theater Review: GPAC’s Production of Twelfth Night.
Assignment: Attend one of Givens Performing Arts Center’s performances of our student production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and write a review of it. There are three aspects of this writing assignment: response, critique, and description.
Base your review on your knowledge of the text of the play, any other performances or versions of Twelfth Night that you are familiar with, and your honest critical response: what stood out to you about it, what you liked about it, and what you didn’t like. You should discuss at least one scene, conversation, speech, or song by means of direct quotation of the play; don’t quote the whole thing, but just the part you want to discuss.
You should plan to take notes during the performance and take a small notebook or clipboard, etc., but please be respectful to other audience members and keep your note-taking unobtrusive. Please keep and attach to your review a ticket stub or program as proof of your attendance and documentation of which performance you attended. Please attach your notes or a representative sample of them (3 or 4 pages).
Describe anything memorable or unusual about the experience, particularly things you liked or didn’t like. You do not need to discuss all of the following categories (or limit your analysis to these), but here are some aspects that might focus your attention:
Performance/Direction
Staging
Scenery
Costuming
Props
Choreography
Actors/Casting
Acting/Delivery
Individual performances
Ensemble “chemistry”
Lighting
Makeup
Sound
Music
Special effects
Length/Pacing
Atmosphere/Tone
Audience engagement
Seating and”Fourth Wall”
Important characters (Portrayals, impressions, casting, notable detail, etc.)
Viola (“Cesario”)
Sir Andrew
Maria
Malvolio
Orsino
Feste
Sir Toby
Fabian
Olivia
Sebastian
Antonio
Handling of Source Text
Notable abridgements
Scenes cut from performance
Expansions
Act/Scene transitions
Scene rearrangements
Important speeches
Dialogue/exchanges
Character condensation
Body language
Sections without dialogue
Thematic emphasis
Tone of tragic elements
Discuss as many of these topics as are significant to you as a reviewer, and use your conception of the role of a reviewer to decide how much to elaborate. In a slightly different vein, that of constructive critic, if you have suggestions regarding aspects of the GPAC production, you may include them. You may also discuss other productions or performances of the play if you find them helpful to make a point–but only if you can cite them.
Length: Your review must be four double-spaced pages, minimum, can go over four, but should not exceed nine pages. Include relevant Works Cited entries at the end either at the bottom of the last page or on a separate last page. Consult the “Citing Twelfth Night” handout for formatting those.
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