“The energy that is felt within the performance space is completely unique and invaluable.”
We are halfway through the semester, and just like that, our second Mainstage Much Ado About Nothing opens next week! This classic play, written by William Shakespeare and directed by faculty member Kyle A. Thomas, surrounds two young couples as they realize how social pressures and misinformation can spread to have detrimental effects on their lives—but, in the end, love is more powerful and will win out.
We have interviewed via email some of the cast and technical members of the production to get an insight into the characters and design aspects of this timeless show. Read below to see what they had to say!
First up was the director of the show, Dr. Kyle A. Thomas! We asked him all about his favorite parts of this show’s rehearsal process and the challenges he and the cast faced. He shared,
“The best part of rehearsals has been collaborating with cast members on pushing the humor in the show. I’ve been pleasantly and joyfully surprised at the wonderful ideas cast members have come up with to make the show much funnier! I won’t spoil anything, so you’ll just have to come see the show. The biggest challenges are the verse and working with a style of drama that was not based in psychological Realism (which is how most actors are trained today). So, we have been working to make the verse and meter more natural to our way of speaking and moving while also focusing on physicalized acting techniques that signal aspects of character that are extensions from the body rather than just the psychology of character.”
When asked how a show centuries old still relates to modern audiences, he interestingly stated, “The truth is: it doesn’t. Well, not inherently. Shakespeare’s world was very different from our own and, ultimately, taking on a play like this is challenging and exciting because it takes deeply creative approaches to the work in order to make it relevant to today’s audiences. While aspects of society like gossiping and the pressure to follow certain normative behaviors are still are part of our world today, the ways in which those social phenomena exert themselves in our lives are very different from how they are portrayed in this production. So, we play with historical anachronisms in the design, assert the agency of the women characters, and lean into a critical view of Shakespeare’s theatre in our production in order to make the story at the heart of the play work for our audiences.”
Next, we emailed cast members Jackson Spencer and Lauren Aiello, who play the witty and hilarious Benedick and Beatrice; they gave us the scoop on their characters and some of their favorite lines from the show!
To start, Jackson Spencer told us that Benedick is a “wise-cracking young bachelor with a bit of double life. On one hand, he’s committed publicly to the idea that love and marriage is a fool’s game, but in secret he really wonders if he could ever settle down and tie the knot. He battles with his reputation of being a smart, laid-back cynic and his unfamiliar desires for a long-time friendly rival, Beatrice. In a nutshell, he’s a scared little boy who wants to trust love but must get the cynicism beaten out of him first.” His favorite line was in response to a reference Beatrice makes about needing a man made of something stronger than earth- Would it not grieve a woman to be overmastered with a piece of valiant dust? He stated, “Besides it just being a really cool sentence to say, it has so many layers that I just love. There is so much irony in that statement, and it just raises the stakes for all suiters; you better be almost HEAVENLY to come in my presence.”
His counterpart Lauren Aiello responded that Beatrice is “intelligent above everything else. Her wit earns her respect from friends and family, but it also prevents her from being complacent in the society she was born into. Deep down, she wants true love, but only with an intellectual equal who truly sees her as his equal too.” Her favorite line, “simply because it is such a good comeback,” is- Scratching could not make it worse, an ’twere such a face as yours were. She said, and we can all agree, that “all pretentious men should hear that line once in their life.”
It sounds like these two will make quite the interesting pair on stage!
Finally, we emailed two of the incredible designers for this large show who’s work easily speaks for itself.
Riley Lathrom, Scenic Designer, shared when asked about her grand set design stated, “My inspiration came from the architectural design of theatres from the Elizabethan era like the Globe Theatre and the Swan Theatre. Every design presents its own challenges, but I think as a whole the production team was so excited to bring back live theatre to campus.” Her favorite aspect of her design was “the set as a whole. My design is a skeletal approach of the bare bones of a theatre and the actors fill the stage bringing the design to life.”
Robyn Gill, Costume Designer, shared that a lot of her personal inspiration “came from the script because of how I wanted to really explore each of the characters individually in order to have their costume really reflect who they are. But, I also found inspiration in the works of Joachim Beuckelaer. I love his color pallet as well as the beauty in the simplicity of his works. His art seems very down to earth and relatable, even though it comes from a completely different time. This is the feeling that I was going for in designing the costumes. The biggest challenge for me in this show was finding a way to incorporate all sorts of fun anachronisms into the costumes and create a picture that still looks cohesive. While all of these anachronistic elements were a bit confusing and frustrating at times, I am very happy with how everything worked out. I feel like they add a lot to the show and make it very interesting and engaging.”
This might be the largest show the Department of Theatre and Dance has put on in quite a while! They’ve got wit and sarcasm galore, anachronistic elements, and a complex mixture of classic modernization. Everyone stated audience should come see this show because “it’s going to be a hilariously fun take on the famous William Shakespeare that will feel surprisingly fresh;” “the cast is kicking tail to bring it to life, the crew is wonderful, and the director is passionate;” “we are also so lucky to have the ability to be performing and observing live theatre again;” “the love story is beautiful and real;” and “the cast and crew have worked so hard to make this show possible, so spend a night enjoying the wonder of live theatre!”
Performances for Much Ado About Nothing run Thursday-Sunday, October 21st-24th. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday show start at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm. All will be held in Craig Hall’s Coger Theatre, and you can GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!
