Charlotte is a first year at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Little does she know that inside these old walls not only her love for acting will grow.
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It's way past midnight and I should be fast asleep. But for three hours straight I am lying in my bed, staring at the same scribbles in my notebook.
"Better a witty fool than a foolish wit" is written in the middle of the page. It's his handwriting. The sharp edges, yet fluid form, I recognized it immediately. He must have put it in there during rehearsals, as I usually leave my bag unattended in this time.
Why did he chose this quote? What does he want to tell me? Who is the fool in this scenario? Me, him, both of us? At least it seems fitting, I say to myself.
It has been a week since he handed me the task of interpreting the Viola in Twelfth Night, one of Shakespeare's mature comedies.
A week I have spent reading the play on a daily basis and researching everything there is to know about Viola, the play and Shakespeare himself.
It angers me that his plays have become a status symbol of culture and education, when they originally were written to be performed to an audience of different classes and levels of intellect. A task only a genius could accomplish. Combining down to earth characters with a complex plot.
All the scenes in Twelfth Night are a carefully woven net, with layer over layer of sub plots. All designed to subconsciously create tension and humor. Drip feeding the audience fragments of information they have to piece together to a bigger picture as the plot unfolds.
Brilliance in it's highest form. Not to mention the way language is used to convey different feelings or attitudes. Iambic parameters being a sign of control, whereas the distortion of its rhythm used to underline a strong emotion the character is feeling.
Thinking about the plot I shake my head.
As fitting as his little note is the fact that he assigns my group for the Twelfth Night. "At least he didn't choose Romeo and Juliet for you" my subconscious mocking me.
I roll my eyes. He is not striking me as a blunt guy. There must be a deeper reason he picked this play. Viola. For me.
Ok lets think. Its a common Elizabethan romantic comedy. Okay. It includes mistaken identity, separated twins, and gender-crossing disguise. Nope nothing useful there.
The overcoming obstacles to find true love part is the only resemblance I can come up with. So back to square one. Cos if this was the only thing he wanted to tell me, he could have picked many other of his plays.
Maybe the answer lies within Viola itself. After all characters served a function in Shakespeare's plays. Like vehicles carrying an idea or theme. Could this be it?
She represents the norm of behavior in the strange world of Illyria, caught between melancholy and emotionalism. She is intelligent in evaluating the danger she is in, clever enough to find the right disguise and practical enough to carry it out. Often described as simple, straightforward, good-humored and known for her verbal puns. Ok so far this could be the most flattering and cryptic compliment I have ever gotten. What else?
Honest. The honesty in all her dealings is always admired, when talked about the character. But what does this mean? Does he want me to be honest with him?
Or could this be a warning sign not to follow in Violas footsteps to fall in love with a man as moody and changeable as the Duke?
God will this bloody riddle ever make sense. I hold up the page of my notebook again. Staring at the handwriting i drift off into a troubled sleep.
