Plays / Twelfth Night; or, What You Will

Twelfth Night; or, What You Will: who’s in each scene

William Shakespeare · 1602

Plan this showLoads this breakdown into the free planner. Add your cast and their conflicts; get a schedule and call notices.

Scenes

Speaking roles

Groups / ensemble

Scene × character grid

● speaks · ○ on stage, no lines. Weight compares each scene’s length to the play’s typical scene.

Scene	Weight	Orsino	Valentine	Curio	Lords, Musicians and Attendants	Viola	Sea Captain	Sailors	Maria	Sir Toby Belch	Sir Andrew Aguecheek	Olivia	Malvolio	Feste	Sebastian	Antonio	Fabian	Officers	Priest
Act 1 Scene 1An Apartment in the Duke’s Palace	light	●	●	●	○
Act 1 Scene 2The sea-coast	normal					●	●	○
Act 1 Scene 3A Room in Olivia’s House	fuller								●	●	●
Act 1 Scene 4A Room in the Duke’s Palace	light	●	●	○	○	●
Act 1 Scene 5A Room in Olivia’s House	heavy					●			●	●		●	●	●
Act 2 Scene 1The sea-coast	light														●	●
Act 2 Scene 2A street	light					●							●
Act 2 Scene 3A Room in Olivia’s House	fuller								●	●	●		●	●
Act 2 Scene 4A Room in the Duke’s Palace	fuller	●		●	○	●								●
Act 2 Scene 5Olivia’s garden	heavy								●	●	●		●				●
Act 3 Scene 1Olivia’s garden	fuller					●			○	●	●	●		●
Act 3 Scene 2A Room in Olivia’s House	light								●	●	●						●
Act 3 Scene 3A street	light														●	●
Act 3 Scene 4Olivia’s garden	heavy				●	●			●	●	●	●	●			●	●	●
Act 4 Scene 1The Street before Olivia’s House	light									●	●	●		●	●		○
Act 4 Scene 2A Room in Olivia’s House	normal								●	●			●	●
Act 4 Scene 3Olivia’s Garden	light											●			●				○
Act 5 Scene 1The Street before Olivia’s House	heavy	●		○	○	●				●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●

Cast size and doubling

15 speaking roles plus 3 groups.

The Sea Captain and Antonio never share a scene and can be doubled.
Valentine never shares a scene with Sebastian, Antonio, Fabian or the Priest.
Curio and Maria never share a scene.
Maria never shares a scene with Sebastian or the Priest.
The Sea Captain never shares a scene with Valentine, Curio or Fabian.

Heaviest scenes

Work these early and often:

Act 1 Scene 5 — 6 speaking, about 259 lines
Act 3 Scene 4 — 10 speaking, about 335 lines
Act 5 Scene 1 — 12 speaking, about 397 lines

Characters

Orsino — Duke of Illyria
Valentine — Gentleman attending Orsino
Curio — Gentleman attending Orsino
Lords, Musicians and Attendants — Attendants on Orsino and Olivia
Viola — Shipwrecked twin, disguised as Cesario
Sea Captain — Friend to Viola
Sailors — Sailors with the Captain
Maria — Olivia's gentlewoman
Sir Toby Belch — Olivia's uncle
Sir Andrew Aguecheek — Suitor to Olivia
Olivia — A rich countess
Malvolio — Steward to Olivia
Feste — Olivia's fool (the Clown)
Sebastian — Viola's twin brother
Antonio — Sea captain, friend to Sebastian
Fabian — Servant to Olivia
Officers — Officers who arrest Antonio
Priest — Priest who marries Olivia

Edition: Project Gutenberg eBook #1526: modern-spelling text prepared by the PG Shakespeare Team (release 1998, revised 2025); no print source edition is named. Breakdown derived from this text. Public domain in the United States. Breakdown only — no text of the play is reproduced here.