Ayola began her career in the theatre , performing in a number of Shakespearean plays including Twelfth Night , A Midsummer Night 's Dream , The Tempest , The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth . She states of this : " Shakespeare keeps coming my way . I love the fact that I get to play people who are much more articulate than I 'll ever be " . Ayola has performed in Twelfth Night in the lead roles of both Olivia and Viola . She explains : " The role of Viola didn 't sit that well with me for some reason but Olivia makes more sense . " She has also appeared in modern performances , assuming the title role of Dido , Queen of Carthage at the Globe Theatre in London in 2003 , which she described as " a dream of a part " . She has deemed her dream role to be that of Isabella in Measure for Measure , as she once lost out on the part and would like to prove herself capable of playing it .