Customer Reviews

Twelfth Night (Cambridge School Shakespeare)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Please notice that G.H.'s in-house review above does not refer to the recording pictured above, nor do any of the reviews so far. What follows refers only to the Naxos set.

There are now three complete recordings of <Twelfth Night> available. We have the older and elegantly read version on Harper Audio with Dorothy Tutin as the best Viola of the lot. Acted with a bit more verve though with less poetry is the Arkangel Shakespeare recording with a Scottish Malvolio and a cast of younger sounding actors who are making names for themselves in Great Britain. However I am very impressed with the "Twelfth Night" that is one of the latest additions to the Naxos Classic Drama series.

By far, this is the best-produced "Twelfth Night." One actually feels he is hearing an actual stage performance with all of the action but with the loss of none of the poetry. Perhaps the Viola does sound a little maturer than imagination would have her and the Sir Toby Belch a little less belchy sounding than others. None of the Festes sing as marvelously as did Peter Pears on the long deleted Marlowe Society recording (also with Tutin); however, on this Naxos set David Timson stays nicely in tune--and directs the production to boot. And he keeps things moving neatly along, which is saying a lot for Shakespeare recordings.

The CD version has the advantage of excellent tracking cues for not only each scene but for key points within the scene. The Harper CDs give a new track only for each new scene and the tapes (of course) are quite useless in that regard. The Arkangel series at present exists only on tapes but they are planning to reissue the entire series on CDs. So this Naxos release is the one of choice so far.

Each of the Harper/Caedmon Audio series of Shakespeare's plays, originally recorded in the 60s by the Shakespeare Recording Society and now being reissued on cassette, lives up to a high standard of performance. But the "Twelfth Night" recording is, in my view, the best. The stellar cast includes a young Vanessa Redgrave as Olivia, and a hilarious Willoughby Goddard as Sir Toby. The scenes where Paul Scofield as Malvolio is deceived with a forged letter into thinking that Olivia loves him have a side-splitting humor that comes through even though the play is nearly 400 years old. The sound quality is excellent. I would have to say that this is the crown jewel of the whole Caedmon series.

. . . to really achieve its full potential, this play needs to be acted out on stage. Still, highly excellent, involving twins, cross-dressing, love tangles, sword-fighting, secret marriages, music, disguises, mistaken identities, high speech, and lowbrow humour.

The entire play takes place in Illyria. In the main plot, Orsino is in love with Olivia, who unfortunately does not return his feelings. Viola is shipwrecked on the Illyrian coast, and dressed as a boy, comes to serve in Orsino's court, where she of course falls in love with Orsino. Meanwhile, in Olivia's court, some of her courtiers plan a cruel--but funny--practical joke against her pompous steward Malvolio. There is also a third plot later on involving Viola's twin brother Sebastian, who has been shipwrecked likewise. Naturally things get quite confusing, but, true to Shakespeare's comedic style, everything gets worked out in the end.

This is an enjoyable book to read, and the notes are very helpful. However, it is still better as a performance.

As a high school student reading Twelfth Night, I find it one of the finest Shakespearean comedies. It is the story of two twins, Viola and Sebastian, who become shipwrecked and land on the island of Illyria, both thinking that the other is dead. It includes a classic example of mistaken identities, in which Viola disguises herself as a man (in order to work for Orsino) and is confused with Sebastian. Sebastian is mistaken for Cesario (Viola's fake identity) by Sir Toby and Sir Andrew, and then by Olivia, resulting in their marriage. Sebastian's friend Antonio mistakes Viola for Sebastian and is thrown in jail when Viola claims she doesn't know him. These cases of mistaken identity create a comical mess that is only resolved when Viola and Sebastian appear together, and everyone understands what has happened. The mistaken identities in this plot also create a complex love triangle between Orsino, Olivia and Viola. Viola finds herself falling for Orsino, who she woks disguised as Cesario. Orsino sends her to tell Olivia that he is in love with her. Viola does as her employer wishes, and Olivia falls in love with Cesario. While all this is going on, the reader is entertained with Sir Andrew's hopeless attempts to woo Olivia, and with the trick played on Olivia's head servant Malvolio by Sir Toby and Maria, Olivia's uncle and servant woman. While it can be confusing to keep track of characters true identities, it is definitely a worthwhile play. Having seen the play before actually reading it, I felt this comedy was just as entertaining and enjoyable to read as to see acted on stage.

I didn't read this particular version of Twelfth Night, so I'm rating the plot, not the editing. This book was the first play by Shakespeare that I read, and I loved it! It starts when Viola and her brother, Sebastian, are seperated in a shipwreck. Viola decides to disguise herself as a boy and work for Orsino, the duke. Orsino sends Viola to tell Olivia that he loves her. Viola does what he says, but she wishes she didn't have to, because she has fallen in love with Orsino! Then Olivia falls in love with Viola, thinking that she is a boy. While all this is going on, Andrew Aguecheek is wooing Olivia, who scorns him. Also, Maria, the maid, Sir Toby Belch, Olivia's uncle, and another servant write a letter and put it where Malvolio, a servant, will see it. The letter says that Olivia is in love with Malvolio. Malvolio immediately starts trying to woo Olivia. Maria and Sir Toby pretend to think that he's mad, and lock him up. Meanwhile, Sebastian comes to town with Antonio, the man who saved him from the shipwreck. Antonio gives him his purse and says that he must stay away from the city because he fought against the duke in a war. A few minutes later, Antonio realizes that he needs money for lodgings and goes to find Sebastian. In the city, Viola is being forced to fight Andrew Aguecheek for the right to marry Olivia. Antonio sees the fight and hurries to intervene. Orsino recognizes him and has him arrested. Antonio asks Viola for his purse so that he can pay bail, thinking that she is Sebastian. Viola denies having had a purse. Then Sebastian comes up. Olivia had found him and married him on the spot, and he, deliriously happy, had gone away to give Antonio his purse. On the way, he met Sir Toby and Andrew Aguecheek. When they try to force him to fight, he punches them and goes on. They come up too, bitterly accusing Viola. (No one has seen Sebastian yet.) Then Olivia comes up and speaks to Viola, who denies being her wife. Orsino becomes angry with her, thinking that she has married Olivia, and accuses her of treachery. Just as things are looking bad for Viola, Sebastian reveals himself. Then everyone is happy (since Orsino falls in love with Viola on the spot) except Andrew Aguecheek and Malvolio, who is later set free. The plot of this book is a little hard to understand, but it is halariously funny and makes for happy reading.

Hello friends,
This Compact Disc of one of Shakespeare's most beautiful plays is absolutly fantabulous. I listened to it every night while reading the book and I still listen to this wonderful play. It makes me giggle. P.s haritha is queertastic. This is also a good cd, for lazy people like Mollie who don't know how to read shakespeare. Haritha is still queertastic.

This is, by far, one of my most favorite Shakespeare plays. It's hilarious-probably the funniest I've read. Shakespeare has the nuttiest characters, such as Sir Toby and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who likes to drink and be silly more than anything else. Then there's Maria, the conniving servant, who fools Malvolio (the pompous servant) into thinking Olivia (the rich chick) is in love with him, and, of course, he makes a fool out of himself. On top of all that, there's Viola, a girl pretending to be a guy named Cesario, and Olivia falls in love with her/him. It's a hoot. The whole thing. Until my Shakespeare class, I had never even heard of this book, which is a surprise because it's so much better and so much more captivating than some of his other plays. A must read!!!

Many of you probably recall this play as the one Shakespeare began to write at the end of "Shakespeare In Love." As far as this movie goes, Shakespeare was to write something where love triumphed rather than failing as it did in "Romeo and Juliet." This comedy is often hailed as the best, but there are reasons I can not place it on the same level as "The Comedy of Errors," "The Merchant of Venice," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "As You Like It," or others.

We meet Orsino the Duke who is love with Olivia. But Olivia chooses to avoid men. (She never quite got over the death of her brother and father.) We also meet Viola. She has survived a shipwreck but fears her brother Sebastian has died in the wreck. Fearful of being raped, she disguises herself as a man, and enters Orsino's service under the alias Cesario.

Shakespeare then introduces us to characters of a subplot. (Maria, Toby, and Andrew) They are planning a practical joke on Malvolio. Moving on, Orsino asks Viola/Cesario to woo Olivia for him. This is of course hard for her, since she loves the Duke, but she proceeds. To add to her problems, Olivia falls in love with her!

Later, we see that Viola's brother Sebastian has survived and we meet Antonio. Antonio is wanted in the area for theft, but his touching loyalty will not allow him to abandon Sebastian. There is a comical scene where Orsino has a man to man talk with Viola/Cesario.

Now here we come to a part I have a problem with. Maria, Andrew, and Toby plan an over the top practical joke on Malvolio. I find this to be beneath the comedy that is caused by human misunderstanding such as in "The Comedy of Errors."

Moving on, Toby pretends to want to try to stop a fight between Andrew and Viola/Cesario but keeps prompting the fight as well. Antonio mistakes Viola for Sebastian and saves her. But I have another problem here. Viola watches Antonio get arrested after he saved her, and she allows him to be taken to prison. Certainly she was close enough to the Duke to ask for this man who had been helpful to be released. (And she knows she was mistaken for her brother Sebastian!)

Eventually the errors of the day are sorted out when Sebastian comes on the screen married to Olivia. And Shakespeare allows us to infer that Antonio will not be punished. And of course Malvolio comes on stage screaming for revenge over what he feels he has suffered.

It is a good play with intertwined plots, comedy, and enough tragic elements to make it real. But there are some flaws that prevent me from placing this on the same level as "As You Like It," "Merchant of Venice," "Comedy of Errors," and some others.

"Twelfth Night" is one of the famous romantic comedy written by William Shakespeare. Many critics said, "Twelfth Night" is the masterpiece among his comedy because his fully developed style and insight are in the "Twelfth Night", so it has special value and attractiveness.
There are four main characters in "Twelfth Night" ; Duke Orsino, Olivia, Viola, and
Sebastian. Duke Orsino who lives in Illyria loves Olivia, so every day he send one of
his servant to Olivia's house for proposal of marriage. However, every time Olivia
refuses his proposal for the reason that she lost her brother before long, so she is now
in big sorrow and can not love anyone. One day, Viola comes into Illyria. She and her
twin brother Sebastian are separated in a shipwreck and they are rescued by two
different people in two different place, so they think the other one is dead each other.
Viola disguise as a man and become a servant of Duke Orsino, and then she fall in
love with Duke Orsino. But, Duke Orsino loves Olivia and he send Viola whose new
name as a man is "Cesario" to Olivia for proposal. Unexpectedly, Olivia fall in love with
Cesario!! Therefore, love triangle is formed. In the latter scene, Sebastian also come into
Illyria, so the confusion getting worse. However, in the end, all misunderstandings are
solved and Cesario become Viola, so the four main characters find their love.
There are also four supporting characters in "Twelfth Night" ; Clown, Sir Toby Belch,
Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. They make the readers laugh through their funny
behaviors and comments in subplot.
"Twelfth Night" is very funny story and enjoyable book, so I recommend you.

This book was THE most useful thing in my Literature class. Even if you don't understand Shakespeare language at all, there's a summary for each act in plain English. Helped me understand what was going on easily.