I've been terrible at writing reviews lately thanks to lots of changes in my life, but I recently watched National Theatre's production of Twelfth Night starring Tamsin Greig. It was a phenomenal production for many reasons (hello, incredible set design), but rather than write a review gushing over how amazing it was (definitely 5 stars from me) I thought I'd focus on the element that interested me the most: Malvolia.
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| Tamsin Greig as Malvolia. Photo taken from: https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/twelfth-night-nt-live-2020/ |
Casting a female Malvolia, on the surface, feels like any other gender swap: interesting, modern, revealing. For me, Malvolia was all these things and more, and the consequences this might have for a modern audience are very exciting and multifaceted.
Traditionally, Malvolio's malcontentedness is wrapped up in class. He can be seen as an archetypal Malcontent, an outside character who is dissatisfied with the social structure and provides a commentary on the play and by extension on wider society. The irony is that he is an outsider as far as the other characters are concerned, but he is designed to be the most relatable and entertaining for the audience. Of course, Malvolia still does all of these things - the lines were not changed except for a few pronouns. But by changing the gender of the character, an extra layer was added and suddenly Malvolia represented so much more than class.
Gender speaks to today's society perhaps more than class. Looking at the Royals as a modern example, Kate Middleton was wholeheartedly accepted into the Royal family despite her being classed as a 'commoner' by the media at the time (though we all know she is far from common).
As an actor, Greig was fully aware of the implications of portraying a female Malvolia: "I was very nervous of making Malvolio a woman and therefore a lesbian, considering what happens to the character in the play, which is monstrous" (quote taken from her interview with the Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/apr/20/tamsin-greig-malvolia-twelfth-night-national-theatre). But I think that is precisely why this gender swap is so important. What happens is monstrous, and this production made an effort to point this monstrosity out to the audience.
Having an older Malvolia - perhaps of the generation between typically homophobic and LGBT accepting - gives the character a complex subtext. Gay marriage only became legal in the UK in 2013, and it was as recent as 1967 that consensual homosexual acts were legalised. The need to hide her feelings is fitting for Greig's character, and perhaps relatable to members of the audience who went through (or may still be going through) a struggle with their sexual identity due to the cultural pressures they grew up with.
On top of the Malvolio-Malvolia switch, Fabian becomes Fabia and Feste is also female. The attacks on Malvolia are therefore attacks done by other women, again highlighting an area of society that is often not talked about: women can be incredibly cruel.
