This past weekend, we took the kids to see a performance by Tim Crouch of his one-man play I, Malvolio, part of his "I, Shakespeare" series designed to appeal to audiences teenaged and up. The basic premise of the series is to examine key themes in the famous plays from a very different point of view, that of characters of relatively lesser importance.The premise is not new; Top Stoppard brilliantly explored this view in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and indeed Crouch was inspired to create the series while performing in a production of the Stoppard play. What Crouch brings to the "I, Shakespeare" series -- besides his personality -- is the intention to reach a young audience and help them consider Shakespeare's ideas without the kind of stuffiness of an English classroom. But of course, the play also makes the grownups think, too.
In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night , Malvolio is the butler at Lady Olivia's house on the isle of Illyria; he's a serious dude, with a Calvinist passion for order, and when her relations, led by Sir Toby Belch, make too much merry for Malvolio's taste, they conspire to "punk" him by giving him the idea that his lady is in love with him. In response to his discovery of a "letter" by his mistress, Malvolio engages in odd behaviors, which ends up landing him in the madhouse. When the deceit is revealed, he vows revenge "on the whole pack of you." What Crouch's play makes you realize is that Malvolio was not just talking about Sir Toby and his band of pranksters; he's talking about the theater audience -- both then and for all time -- and about the very instituion of the theater itself, which Crouch's Malvolio clearly despises.
By taking the point of view of the wronged Malvolio, Crouch forces us in the audience to think about the nature of humor and why we often find it so funny when we see others suffer. Countless times, Malvolio asks, "is this what you find funny?" The question is not rhetorical; as we watch him pull two young members of the audience out to help Malvolio hang himself, we continue to laugh, waiting for the punchline. No one tells him not to do it. Malvolio keeps referring to being bullied by the others; it's a loaded term these days, but within his point of view, that is what Sir Toby and his mates do to him. As Malvolio summarizes the main plot of Twelfth Night, he points out the lunacies created by Viola's dressing as a man and creating bizarre romantic twists, thus making his declarations of "I'm not mad" seem perfectly sane.
Malvolio clearly loves order, and over the course of the play, he returns himself to his former state: starting out in the clothes of the madman, he dresses himself in his old steward uniform. Throughout the play, he stops at times to remind everyone to sit up straight -- and yes, we all do it! Back in control, indeed!
And as Malvolio describes the details of the prank pulled on him, I could not help but think of the hot news story of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, who apparently was the victim of an extended prank also involving a love that was not real. In Manti's case, he apparently engaged in an on-line romance with someone who did not exist; even though he talked to the "girl" on the phone often late into the night, he actually spoke to (reportedly) different people posing her, including the guy who is being held responsible for the prank. He spoke about the grief he felt when his girl was dying and he played football because "she" would have wanted him to.
Malvolio, blinded by love, never stops to consider the absurdity of what "Lady Olivia" is asking him to do; his blindness also makes him forget the class distinctions between the two of them. Manti, also apparently blinded by love, doesn't stop to think about all the horrific things that supposedly happened to his girl: a car accident putting her in a coma, having leukemia, etc. It's an insane story, and yet, Manti may be no less mad than Malvolio.
Will Manti be revenged? Probably not. I suspect he hopes all of this is forgotten so he can live the rest of his life. Malvolio's revenge has been contemplated by many in the theater for centuries. Crouch may have hit upon a very effective one, with the last prank on us.
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