Malvolio – the killjoy the stars love to play

This article is more than 14 years old Richard Wilson is the latest star to don Malvolio's yellow stockings for the RSC - what is it about the great grump that attracts actors? Maddy Costa Tue 20 Oct 2009 22.30 BST

Hamlet, Macbeth, Lear – and Malvolio? Few audiences would rank Twelfth Night's misanthrope, tricked into capering about in a pair of yellow stockings, as one of Shakespeare's major roles. But the past decade has seen committed Shakespeareans – from Simon Russell Beale to Patrick Stewart – take the part, following in the footsteps of Laurence Olivier and Ian Holm. When the Donmar theatre launched its prestigious West End season last year, it was with a production of Twelfth Night, starring Derek Jacobi as the grim authoritarian. This week, at the age of 72, Richard Wilson is making his Shakespearean debut, playing Malvolio in Gregory Doran's new production for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. What do they see in Malvolio? On paper, there is little to recommend him: he is unforgiving and rude; he criticises his mistress, Olivia, while massaging his rampant ego with indulgent dreams of life as her husband. His austerity is born of a puritanism that makes him intolerant of revelry – or, as the unruly Sir Toby Belch puts it, such simple good things as "cakes and ale". What's to like? For actors, it seems, quite a lot. "It may not be a leading role, but it's a lovely opportunity role," says Michael Boyd, artistic director of the RSC. "Malvolio is clearly at odds with the world, and possibly with himself: that kind of internal drama is always tasty for an actor. Plus, he has these two amazing set pieces that are practically announced by the other characters – 'Wait till you see this!'" In one, he painstakingly interprets an anonymous letter as a declaration of love from Olivia; in the other, he attempts to woo Olivia while, as Boyd puts it, "looking like a stupid banana" in yellow stockings. Living up to this build-up presents a challenge that actors find irresistible. But while many actors pass the comedy test, Michael Grandage, who directed Jacobi in the role, thinks they aren't always able to combine that with tragedy. "Malvolio follows a particular arc," he argues. "He is utterly pompous at the beginning, then gives himself over to love and lets an audience enjoy how foolish he looks. Then he is incarcerated, and goes to a really profound place because of that." Until he directed Jacobi (who won an Olivier award for his performance), Grandage felt that he had "never seen that complete arc". According to Doran, even the comedy will defeat an actor who chases laughs. "You can't try to be funny with Malvolio," he says. "You just have to be him, and that's what makes it funny." He believes Wilson is perfect for the role because "part of his comic persona is of the grumpy killjoy – and Malvolio is Shakespeare's great grumpy killjoy". Wilson agrees: "It's amazing the number of people who have said to me, 'You were made for Malvolio.' Which, of course, is not a great compliment." Wilson says he has been startled by aspects of Malvolio during rehearsals. "His arrogance is phenomenal," he says. "And his mind is fairly racy – to think that Olivia will have anything to do with him. I think fantasy must play a large part in his life." This idea of Malvolio as fantasist is becoming key to his performance, though it is only one of myriad approaches to the character. Scornful, sarcastic, intolerant Patrick Stewart, who played Malvolio in Chichester in 2007, came to his interpretation by accident. A couple of days before rehearsals began, he was fooling around with a group of actors, talking in a Scottish accent, and one of them suggested he use it for Malvolio. "A light went on in my head," he says. Stewart (who was born in Yorkshire) tried reading the lines to himself in "a very uptight, rather Edinburgh-based accent – and I never had to do any more character research from that point. Everything about the man was in the way that he spoke. Puritanical, repressive, supercilious, scornful, sarcastic, intolerant: I was able to bring all of that out in that very pompous-sounding, superior Scottish accent." Laurence Olivier, in a 1955 production, played him as a cockney social climber, a tactic Ian Holm also employed in 1966. Richard Cordery, in Michael Boyd's 2005 production, pushed the character into uncharted territory, transforming him into a martial arts fanatic. "Michael kept trying to get the karate costume off me," Cordery says. "I also wore this heavy gold jewellery, and Michael would say, 'Please take that off, you look a twat.' But I knew I looked lovely in it. The more self-regarding I was, the easier it was to express that in terms of martial arts." Cordery had long harboured an ambition to play Malvolio, and was surprised by how lonely an experience this proved to be. "Malvolio doesn't have any friends on stage – he doesn't even have friends in the audience. There is nowhere within his world where he can be safe, other than his imagination." His arguments with Boyd compounded this: "Even the director hated me," he laughs, "and was trying to spoil my evening." For Cordery, this singularity lies at the root of Malvolio's appeal. "It's so brave to be so hated," he says. "There is a deliciousness about being perceived as utterly obnoxious." Explore more on these topics ●Theatre ●William Shakespeare ●Royal Shakespeare Company

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