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Character Breakdown 

Open casting. The notes below describe where each character sits in the story, not who can play them. Read for whatever you want.

1. VIOLA / "Cesario"

Shipwrecked and sure her twin brother drowned. She disguises herself as a boy to get work in Duke Orsino's court, falls for him almost immediately, and gets sent to woo Olivia on his behalf. Onstage more than anyone else in the show. Needs an actor who can be funny without dropping the stakes and who can hold an outdoor crowd alone. No singing.

Lead · All five acts · No doubling
 

2. OLIVIA

A young countess in mourning, sworn off the sight of men for seven years. She takes one look at the Duke's messenger and throws the whole plan out. She does the chasing in this play, and she is married before the other party understands what happened. Comic and serious in the same breath. No singing.

Lead · No doubling
 

3. SIR TOBY BELCH

Olivia's cousin. Lives in her house, drinks her liquor, runs the prank on Malvolio and sets up the duel. Funny right up until Act IV, when he goes too far and knows it. Sings bits of songs in character. You need to carry a tune, not to be a singer. Physical comedy and stage combat.

Lead · Sings bits · Stage combat
 

4. MALVOLIO

Olivia's steward. No sense of humor, high opinion of himself, certain the house would fall apart without him. He gets the box-tree scene, which is the best comedy in the show. Then he gets locked in a dark room and told he is insane, and he leaves without forgiving anybody. Play it completely straight and the laughs come. No singing.

Lead · Comedy and drama · No doubling
 

5. FESTE / Fridon Engineering Synthetic Theatrical Entity

The household's android fool. Built to be funny, running on old firmware, aware of what the job costs him. He takes over Fabian's part in this version, so he is in the hedge for the box-tree scene and plays Sir Topas in the dark room. Four songs, including the last thing the audience hears. The biggest singing role in the show. Dry and fast. Do not push the jokes.

Lead · Four songs · Strongest voice

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6. DUKE ORSINO

In love with being in love. Generous and condescending in the same sentence, and the play makes him pay for it. He spends four acts describing a feeling and never once checks whether the person on the other end of it agrees. He opens the show with a solo, so this role needs a real singer. He also carries the last turn in Act V, where the charm drops and something colder comes out. No doubling.

Lead · One solo · No doubling

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6. MARIA / THE OFFICER

Maria is Olivia's gentlewoman. East Texas plainspoken, faster than anyone else in the room, and having a good time. She writes the letter that ruins Malvolio.

A cross-gender double with the two fastest changes in the show. Both are covered by text already in the script.

2 roles
 

7. SEBASTIAN / SIR ANDREW AGUECHEEK / THE CAPTAIN

Sebastian is Viola's twin. Grieving, direct, and increasingly sure he is dreaming. Andrew is gone after III.iii, so the last third of the show is his alone.

 

Sir Andrew is Toby's mark. Rich, gullible, convinced he is a great dancer, never in on the joke. Play him straight or he does not work.

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The Captain sets the plot in motion and leaves. This is the hardest transformation in the company: a fool nobody takes seriously, then a man the audience accepts as Viola's mirror.

3 roles · Stage combat

 

8. NARRATOR / ANTONIO / CURIO / THE PRIEST

The Narrator opens the show, works the crowd, becomes Curio on the spot, performs the wedding, and closes the night. You have to improvise. The banter is not written.

 

Antonio is the one part played entirely straight. He pulls Sebastian out of the water, loves him openly, walks into a city that wants him dead, and gets denied in public.

 

The widest range asked of anybody here. Stand-up in one scene, the deepest hurt in the play in the next.

Improv required · 4 roles · Widest range