BRATTLEBORO — For the 22nd annual edition of its Shakespeare in the Park series, the Vermont Theatre Company has selected one of the Bard's most popular plays, Much Ado About Nothing.
Often described as having all the romance and humor of Romeo and Juliet with none of the tragedy, this comedy with be presented on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 23-26, on the Rotary Stage at Brattleboro's Living Memorial Park. All performances will start at 6 p.m.
Jessica Callahan and Nick Bombicino play the fiery lovers Beatrice and Benedick, who stubbornly refuse to admit they are in love. Kirsten Schrull and James Gelter play Hero and Claudio, the victims of a fiendish plot.
The rest of the cast includes actors well known to area audiences: Bruce Holloway, Arthur Pettee, Robert Wellington, Dan Mitnik, Dan Hoskins, Justin Kenny, Tracy Therieau, Samuel Murphy, Justin Kenney, Ayars Hemphill, Nora Gordon, Craig Vinton, John Ogorzalek, Derrick Harnish, Guthrie Hatton-Bullock, and Mike Jerald.
Callahan said that, from the actors' perspective, “bringing new people into different roles in the play makes that play completely fresh each time, as long as actors are true to themselves. This production will be unique because the majority of the leads in the cast are in their 20s - young, fresh, vibrant. Some are new to the park; some are veterans.”
Gelter, who is also the director of the play, said that Much Ado About Nothing is arguably one of Shakespeare's most accessible plays, and that modern audiences enjoy “its very simple, straight-forward language.”
“Many of Shakespeare's plays are full of incredibly beautiful language that no one other than Shakespearean scholars can actually understand,” he said. “That is not the case with Much Ado. The story and the characters are very clearly established, and though some of the wordplay humor is a little too outdated to be fully understood by the first-time hearer, much of the humor comes simply from the awkward positions the characters keep putting themselves in, which is a humor we can all understand and enjoy.”
Gelter is putting a bit of a twist on Shakespeare's work by setting the play in late 18th-century America, instead of 16th-century England.
“I decided to set our production in post-revolutionary New England for various reasons, one of which being the spirit of the time,” Gelter said. “This is a time period full of energy and life, with all the citizens of this newly formed country feeling fully grateful for what they had, but knew that they had to work for it. The joy and simplicity of the time seems to lend itself to a plot in which, as the title says, people make much ado about nothing.”
Callahan agrees. “Much Ado About Nothing is about a bunch of silly young people getting worked up over nothing,” he said. “There are moments where panic and tension build, and the action of scenes speeds up, where it is like magic for the audience. Then there is a lull and the realization that we all just made much ado about nothing.”
But the biggest draw is being able to watch a great play on a beautiful early summer night.
“One thing that sets this performance apart from many contemporary productions is its being outside, performed by daylight as the work was originally intended,” Bombicino said.
“You can never beat watching Shakespeare outdoors,” added Gelter, “and our production is designed to bring out the natural beauty of the outdoor setting.”
Along with the scenic plan, Geltner said this production will include costumes to help evoke the characters' personas in a time period when a new country was building its foundations and classes were not strictly defined.
In addition to costuming, another element that evokes the essence of the time period is the presence of local musician Riley Goodemote, who will be playing 18th-century hymns and folk tunes with a small band of local musicians. The music has been made possible with the help of the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center's BEAN micro-grant program.
There will also be a greatly improved PA system to make it easier to hear the actors, and a seating arrangement that will enable people who bring chairs to be as close to the stage as they wish without blocking the view of those who sit on the ground.
For more information on the show and where to get tickets, contact the Vermont Theatre Company at 802-258-1344, or visit the Vermont Theatre Company website.