Shakespeare in The Park is making something out of Much Ado About Nothing, their annual summer production which begins July 3 in Galt Gardens. The production will run most Thursday and Fridays at 7 p.m. each night.
“It’s essentially two love stories. One comes easily and the other one that takes a lot more work on the part of others,” said Erinn Watson, who is co-directing the production with U of L professor Doug MacArthur.
The love story that works easily involves Claudio, who has just returned from war and falls instantly in love with Leonato’s daughter Hero. So Claudio, Leonato and Don Pedro work together to make Claudio’s relationship with Hero work.
The other couple, Beatrice and Benedict takes a little more work.
“They are both equal wits to each other. And they both have similar attitudes towards marriage,” Watson added, noting both are staunchly against marriage.
“But Hero, Claudio, Don Pedro and Leonato plot to bring them together with some trickery,” she said.
Complications arise from Don Pedro’s bastard brother Don John.
“Don John and his minions will do anything to make Don Pedro fall,” she continued.
Watson is very pleased with how well the production has gone.
“Everything has gone really well according to the schedule,” she said.
“ It’s gone exactly as we hoped it would be,” she continued.
The cast features Shakespeare in the Park veterans from their first production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream back in 2012, community members, university students, recent graduates and a lot of new faces.
“There's not a person in this cast I don’t know. I’ve either performed with them, directed them or took a class with them,” Watson said.
DJ Gellalty and Camille Pavlenko, who performed together in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, return as Benedict and Beatrice respectively for much Ado About Nothing. Both were drawn to their characters because of their wit and humour.
“ I feel really fortunate to be able to audition for Benedict, because he is my favourite character,” said Gellatly, who is excited to be back in Much Ado About Nothing. He played Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“He’s smart, intelligent and really gives it to the other characters. He valiant and always stands up for what he believes,” he said.
Camille Pavlenko, who played Titiana in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is excited to play one of her favourite Shakespeare characters in Beatrice.
“She’s really funny. She’s a strong female character, which you don’t usually get in Shakespeare’s comedies. They’re usually in dramas like MacBeth,” Pavlenko said.
“It’s all in the text,” she said, noting the character is drawn well in the dialogue.
“She doesn’t want to get married and tells everybody,” she said.
“But their relationship comes out very well,” Gellatly said.
“It’s not that they don’t like each other, but they definitely challenge each other,” he added.
“People will be getting the jokes even today It’s a very accessibly play,” Pavlenko observed.
“It’s not as well known as Romeo and Juliet, but it is a well known play,” she said.
“For a Shakespearean production, the language is very accessible. And people will recognize the story from romantic comedies and stories people see today,” Watson said.
“It’s very, very funny,” she said.
“I enjoy two parts of the production the most — the first read through where everyone is gathered together reading it for the first time and you can hear the voices of the characters for the first time. And the final dress when all of the months of work from costumes and tech all come together,” she said.
Shakespeare in the Park’s production of Much Ado of Nothing runs in Galt Gardens at 7 p.m. most Thursdays and Friday nights July 3, 9, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31 and Aug. 6 and 7
There are also two Saturday afternoon family matinees at 2 p.m. at CASA, July 11 and Aug 1.