William Shakespeare
Twelfth Night
The full script in Final Draft, Word & PDF
A shipwrecked woman disguised as a young man gets caught between a duke and a countess while a steward is tricked in a sub-plot.
PDFs Only
$4.99
- ✓ Stageplay PDF (101 pp.)
- ✓ Screenplay PDF (91 pp.)
- ✓ Instant download
Full Package
$12.99
- ✓ Final Draft (.fdx)
- ✓ Microsoft Word + RTF
- ✓ Screenplay + Stageplay PDFs
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All 37 plays in every format cost $99, less than 8 single Full Packages. PDFs only: $55 for all 37.
- Genre
- Comedy
- Written
- c. 1601–1602
- Setting
- Illyria
- Scenes
- 18
- Speaking roles
- 17
- Uncut running time
- ~2h 25m
What happens in Twelfth Night
Viola is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and believes her twin brother Sebastian has drowned. She disguises herself as a young man named Cesario and enters the service of Duke Orsino, who is in love with the Countess Olivia. Sent to woo Olivia on the Duke's behalf, Viola finds that Olivia falls for Cesario, while she herself has fallen for Orsino. Orsino remains devoted to Olivia.
In Olivia's household, Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Maria and the fool Feste take revenge on the self-important steward Malvolio with a forged love letter. When Sebastian turns up alive, the mistaken identities multiply, and the play's last movement sorts out the pairings and Malvolio's humiliation.
See the formatting
The first page of Act I, exactly as it appears in the files you download.
The biggest roles
Share of the play's spoken words, counted from the script. 17 characters speak; 5 of them have under 1% of the text — natural candidates for doubling.
| Role | Share of the text | Speeches |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Toby Belch | | 157 |
| Viola | | 124 |
| Feste | | 106 |
| Olivia | | 129 |
| Malvolio | | 89 |
| Duke Orsino | | 64 |
| Maria | | 60 |
| Sir Andrew | | 89 |
For directors
This is a true ensemble: Sir Toby (13.9%), Viola (13.1%), Feste (12.5%), Olivia (11.8%), Malvolio (11.5%) and Orsino (8.3%) all carry a major share, with nine roles over 5%. Only 17 speaking roles across 18 scenes, with 5 under 1%, means little room for doubling, and Viola and Sebastian need to look alike. At about 2 hours 25 minutes uncut, it suits a standard evening. Feste is a singing role.
Cutting notes
- Feste's songs and some of his wordplay are often shortened.
- Sir Toby and Sir Andrew's drinking scenes, such as the midnight revel in 2.3, are frequently trimmed.
- The Sebastian and Antonio sequences in 2.1 and 3.3 are commonly condensed since they are mostly exposition.
For teachers
Typical topics include gender and disguise, desire and mistaken identity, folly and the role of the fool, and the festive tradition of misrule. Students often examine Orsino's opening speech on music, Viola's scenes in disguise, the letter plot against Malvolio in 2.5 and 3.4, and Feste's songs. The play is regularly studied for the contrast between its romantic and comic plots.
Questions
Is this the complete, uncut text of Twelfth Night?
Yes. Every file contains the full play — 18 scenes and about 19,600 spoken words. Cut it yourself in Word or Final Draft to fit your running time.
What is the difference between the stageplay and screenplay layouts?
The stageplay layout indents stage directions and sets dialogue full-width, like a theatre script. The screenplay layout follows film conventions: scene headings and action flush left, character names centred, dialogue in a narrower column. Both tiers include both layouts as PDFs; the Full Package adds editable Final Draft and Word files of each.
Can I use this Twelfth Night script for a production or a class?
Yes. Shakespeare's plays are in the public domain, so there are no royalties to pay for staging them. Edit, stage, film or teach with these files.
How do I receive the files?
Right after checkout you land on a private download page, and the link is also emailed to you. It keeps working, so you can re-download any time.
