BWW Q&A: Yvonne Dhanoa, Tamika Poetzsch, Everton 'Dwight' Campbell of TWELFTH NIGHT at Brampton on Stage

Brampton’s Own Shakespeare Show returns for its second season touring TWELFTH NIGHT to three outdoor stages around Brampton this summer! Grab a chair, a blanket, pack a picnic, and pick the park nearest you to settle in and enjoy a comedy of mistaken identities and unrequited love triangles.  When twins, Viola and Sebastian, are separated by a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as Cesario to serve Duke Orsino. Duke loves Olivia. Olivia loves Cesario. Viola loves Duke, but is pretending to be Cesario. Things get... complicated. With twists, turns, that special pizazz from Louie The Goat ProductionS, this is a PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN summer theatre experience for the whole family!

Yvonne, what about Twelfth Night inspired you to select this as your next production?

Yvonne: The entire point of the Brampton’s Own Shakespeare Show (BOSS) is to create a joyful theatrical experience for the people of Brampton. Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare’s most crowd pleasing comedies, so we picked this play for the 2nd season of BOSS for just that reason - because it's funny!

Twelfth Night is a play known for its exploration of gender roles and identity. How have you prepared to portray these themes effectively on stage?

Everton: In order to effectively prepare for such a role, within a play that has so many relevant themes, especially pertaining to gender identity/ fluidity. I sought the counsel of my Shakespearean mentors, while reading and conducting research on Royal body language, along with customs of the time. This not only helped me with the context but also with my performance

Tamika: The funny thing about doing a show like this is that the audience always knows Viola is pretending to be a man, but the other characters in the play don’t. Whether we mean to or not we all have certain ways we react to certain people. In the same way I’m different at work than I am with my friends, the way I interact with people who have the same gender identity as me may be different to the way I interact with people who have different gender identities. Because Kalie, our Viola, identifies as female but in all our interactions in the play is portraying a man, I had to really step back and take a look at those interactions. Is this really how close I would get to a man I didn’t know, would I really have touched his shoulder or would it have been more of a handshake situation? It was interesting to look at all of those small things I wouldn’t have noticed before and try to make myself aware of them during rehearsal. Can you share your thoughts on your character's motivations and how you embodied them in your performance?

Everton’s: The Duke knows what he wants, but he has no idea how who or how to get what his heart desires. Duke Orsino goes about procuring what he seeks. For example, overall he seeks companionship. However, he has a preconceived notion that Olivia, who is also of Royal stock, is the only option for him, until Cesario shows up and piques his interest. Opening a world of possibilities that never seemed possible previously.

Tamika: One of the things that I felt was very important for Maria was that I was making it clear that she was enjoying herself just as much as any of the “boys”. I think it’s easy to be swept up in the bravado of Sir Toby and feel like Maria is trying to impress him, or just go along with what he’s doing. But really Maria is just as excited to be pulling pranks and creating this havoc in her own right. In the end she marries Sir Toby not because she played along and did her part, but because he fell in love with her cleverness and the things she did. So I really wanted to make sure I focused on Maria’s motivations being driven from an internal want and not external sources.

How does it feel to act in a play that has been performed for over four centuries? Do you feel a certain responsibility to bring something new to your role?

Everton: To me, it means that this artwork has obviously withstood the test of time, and personally it adds more pressure, because you never wanna be known as the person who completely violated a classic. Nonetheless, I enjoy the pressure and I think it will motivate me, to rise to the occasion.

Tamika: I think there’s almost something comforting about the fact that this play has been performed so many times. When you’re acting it’s so easy to compare yourself to other people and to have this idea in your head of who has done that role the “best”. But because Shakespeare has crossed so many cultures and time periods there’s a very good chance that someone else has probably already done that line that way, or done that specific action you were thinking of. So with that in mind I feel it really gives you the freedom to play around with the role and make interesting choices without fear of being “wrong”.

How has your understanding of the play and your character changed over the course of rehearsals?

Tamika: Over the course of rehearsals and working a bit with our text analysis coach I really enjoyed finding the agency of Maria. What started in the beginning as her going along with the schemes of the boys, quickly transitioned into the fact that the prank was Maria’s idea. That maybe this was something she had been plotting for awhile, and she’d finally found the people and opportunity she needed to make it happen. And that in the end she manages to not only snag a marriage out of it, but also take almost none of the blame, is a very rad move in my opinion.

How do you think Twelfth Night is relevant for today's audiences, and what message do you hope they will take away from the production?

Yvonne: The themes of gender equality, gender identity and sexual orientation are embedded in this play, which are all topics being passionately debated and fought for in society today. The main character of Twelfth Night is a young woman named Viola. She decides to disguise herself as a boy named Cesario in order to make a living for herself. This is after she survives a shipwreck that kills the rest of her family. She does this because she knows that as a lone woman, she would not be able to work and support herself. As a man, she falls in love with the Duke, and is able to freely speak to him from her heart. I think it is very important for the audience to realize that when Viola becomes Cesario, it is then that she can truly be herself. It is through the act of changing her outwardly appearance that she can be her most authentic self. I think the key to unlocking our production lies in noting that we can't decide a person's gender or value by looking at them; only they can tell us who they are.

Tamika: I think society right now is in the middle of this great wave of gender identity and expression and Twelfth Night is a show that aligns itself well with those ideas. We see Viola struggle and fight for her freedom and survival, while being forced to hide behind an identity that isn’t how she truly feels. While Sebastian walks around without an issue, facing very little challenge, but coming out with the same “prize” in the end. Of course Twelfth Night is a comedy, so this is all explored in a way that is both fun for the audience to watch, and leaves people with a happy ending (something we all need from time to time). I hope that people come away with a sense that gender roles aren’t quite as rigid as people can make them out to be.

If you could play any other character in Twelfth Night, who would it be and why? Tamika: Maybe it’s just because Ethan does such a fabulous job, but I think Malvolio would be so much fun. He’s the play’s villain largely for the fact that he’s doing his job, but it’s his own ambitions that really become his downfall. That arc of the prim and proper steward descending into chaos and disorder seems like way too much fun of a character to pass up. Plus being a villain always comes with the extra joy of getting to act in ways you never would in real life.

Do you have a favorite line or scene from the play? If so, what is it and why?

Yvonne: Hands down, the funniest scene in the play is when Malvolio comes to woo Olivia. Ethan Ryckman goes big, and a 6’4” man in yellow tights dancing around the stage is something I think everyone will thoroughly enjoy.

Tamika: There’s a moment where the tricksters are eavesdropping on Malvolio (who’s daydreaming about Olivia), and there’s a little exchange in there that I just love. Malvolio: …you waste the treasure of your time with a foolish knight. Sir Andrew: That’s me, I warrant you. Malvolio: One Sir Andrew Sir Andrew: I knew ‘twas I, for many do call me a fool. I love it for the simple reason that, no matter how many times I’ve seen it, it still makes me laugh.

Why should audiences come and see Twelfth Night?

Yvonne: It’s a very fun way to spend your evening! It’s a 2-hour play including breaks, it’s in Brampton parks and it’s pay-what-you-can. We’re stopping the action twice for Q&As, we’ll even improvise the whole play again in 60 seconds if you ask! This show is a guaranteed good time!

Tamika: One of the funny things that happens when you tell people you’re doing a Shakespeare show is the look of horror people will give you. They’re instantly transported back to reading Romeo and Juliet in their high school English class, and the pain of trying to figure out what the heck jocund means. But reading a play is very different from watching a play. It’s amazing how something that on paper was so difficult to understand, suddenly makes perfect sense when someone says it out loud. When you get to watch these characters act and speak that barrier of unfamiliar language falls away, and you realize that there’s really not as much separating our time from Shakespeare’s as one might think. All that to say, if you’re a Shakespeare lover you should come see Twelfth Night because it’s so fun and I guarantee you’ll laugh. And if you’ve never seen Shakespeare or claim to hate Shakespeare, you should come and see just how goofy and relatable it can really be.

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