Twelfth Night is an extraordinary machine of illusion and comedy; a text that, with its richness and lightness, fits perfectly with the workshop approach we’ve been pursuing for over two decades with the students at Luiss Guido Carli. It features nearly every aspect of comedy, which Shakespeare drew heavily from classical theater and even more so from the Italian school, particularly commedia dell’arte, handling them with a skill that remains astonishing to this day. The comedy lies in the rhythm, the words, but above all in the characters and the situation: it’s the story of twins, Viola and Sebastian, separated by a shipwreck off the coast of Illyria. Believing her brother dead, Viola takes on his role, calling herself Cesario, and is hired as a page at the court of Duke Orsino, with whom she falls madly in love. But Orsino’s love for the Countess Olivia is unrequited, and she, in turn, falls for Cesario/Viola… Sebastian’s arrival at court further complicates matters, multiplying the deceptions and misunderstandings. In the end, all the characters are “deceived” to some extent; no one clearly sees the reality around them, a reality that, as Shakespeare writes, “is and is not at the same time.”

In this imaginary, fantastical Illyria, anything and its opposite are possible. The Duke's castle is nothing more than a house of distorting mirrors that creates a labyrinth from which no one, not even Viola, has Ariadne's thread to find their way out.

After all, as Jaques said in As You Like It, “the world is a stage” where fiction blends with reality. This play seems to represent precisely that; indeed, it appears to stage the theater itself, with its tricks and illusions, in a metatheatrical game that, during the staging phase, opens up a wealth of creative possibilities.

And music is a must in this story, as Shakespeare evokes it multiple times throughout the play. It's the voice of the clowns and fools, serving as a commentary on the deceptions perpetrated against the characters. And it’s because of this role as a bridge between reality and fiction, between disguise and truth, that I decided to include songs from one of the most famous and groundbreaking American musicals of all time, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, in the show. I imagined Illyria and its court as a reinterpretation of Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s castle, where we could let loose to the tunes of “Time Warp” or “Sweet Transvestite.”

This year, once again, we have all the ingredients we need to have fun with and through theater. Our course should help us live better and connect more authentically with ourselves. It’s a space within the university where, through the discipline of theater, we can build an open, tolerant, and inclusive community.

Ferdinando Ceriani

Theater Workshop

The Theater Workshop begins in November and concludes in May with the staging of a final performance.
All Luiss students enrolled in a Bachelor's, Master's, or Single-Cycle Master's program are eligible to participate in the workshop.

2025/2026 academic year calendar

The workshop takes place on the days indicated in the calendar (see the application form) from 8:00 PM to 10:30 PM in the Nocco Room on the campus at Via Parenzo, 11.

Final performance

The final show will be staged on three consecutive nights: May 26, 27, and 28, 2026.