WAS IHR WOLLT

About the show

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE The island of Illyria seems at first to be a life raft after a dramatic shipwreck, but soon becomes the setting for deceptions about identity and the romantic entanglements that follow: having survived and been stranded, Viola believes that her beloved twin brother Sebastian has drowned and disguises herself as Cesario so that she can serve the Duke Orsino. Orsino is crazy about the reclusive Countess Olivia, who is in mourning, and sends Cesario to her as his messenger of love. However, Olivia then falls in love with Cesario, not suspecting that Cesario is really Viola, who herself has fallen in love with Orsino. When Viola’s twin brother Sebastian does turn up alive and well and is mistaken for Cesario due to his resemblance to Viola in her disguise as a man, the chaos of illusions reaches its climax. "Twelfth Night" fills the stage with the carnivalesque and also with cruel games of appearance or reality, deception or truthfulness, addiction or love – full of absurd humour, melancholy and plenty of music. Antú Romero Nunes, a German theatre and opera director with Portuguese-Chilean roots, has been a member of the theatre directing team at the Theater Basel since 2020. With a subtle levity, he trusts in the joy of playing with the ensemble and the audience’s expectations, and enjoys catapulting comedies of mistaken identity into grotesque, very musical heights. His interpretation of "Twelfth Night" will add even more twists and turns to this game of masquerade, in which the audience always knows more than the players themselves: what is your will?!