The St Croix Shakespeare Company
Shakespeare in the Park...ing Lot Production
Much Ado About Nothing
(full slide show below)
It was great to be back behind the lens for the Zephyr Theater's production of Much Ado About Nothing in Stillwater. You can see the full set of my photographs at http://rogerpwatts.com/much-ado-about-nothing.html.
One of Shakespeare's First Folio plays published in 1623, the comedy is thought to have been written in 1599. Shakespeare turns a lot of tricks here (our slang these days for commercial sex), and maybe he meant it that way also: Through "nothing" (meaning gossip, rumor, overhearing; as in "noting"), Benedick (Taylor Evans) and Beatrice (Anna Hermanson) are tricked into confessing their love for each other; Claudio (Raul Arambula) is also tricked into believing Hero (Morgan Mulford) is no maiden (he rejects her, therefore, at the altar). The latter is set right (somewhat inadvertently), and the former blossoms, so marriages are agreed upon...Oh what a fun time it was back in the 17th Century!
Taken literally, the title implies that a great fuss ("much ado") is made of something which is insignificant ("nothing"), such as the unfounded claims both of Hero's infidelity, and that Benedick and Beatrice are in love with each other. Nothing is also a double entendre: "an O-thing" (or "n othing" or "no thing") was Elizabethan slang for a part of a woman's anatomy men usually make a lot of "ado" about. The title could also be understood as Much Ado About Noting: much of the action centers around interest in written messages, spying, and eavesdropping - You know, pretty "Much" the usual Shakespearean glue that keeps relationships together in his plays.
This play is a lively affair, as far as marriages go, as the actors run to and fro. "Shakespeare in the Park...ing Lot" is the production company, and the ensemble is impressive as they have to project the customary Shakespearean lines across the Zephyr Theater's parking lot where the audience sits in neat squares of 6' social distancing. Add to that the "sound stage" background audio of the old Stillwater railroad station with the iconic roar of motorcycles typical of Stillwater's Main Street Summer parade, a bike path with rollings "extras," and the lack of any theater acoustics, and it becomes a very realistic setting - One can easily imagine the characters doing their thing on the streets of Messina Sicily where the marital shenanigans unfold.
The St Croix Shakespeare Company does a super job of exploiting the "new normal" for theaters by poking fun at the very outset by playing off the necessary "6 foot" social distancing on the stage. But, even with that, you can enjoy really good relationships unfold that can make for a fun evening... at a distance of course.
One of Shakespeare's First Folio plays published in 1623, the comedy is thought to have been written in 1599. Shakespeare turns a lot of tricks here (our slang these days for commercial sex), and maybe he meant it that way also: Through "nothing" (meaning gossip, rumor, overhearing; as in "noting"), Benedick (Taylor Evans) and Beatrice (Anna Hermanson) are tricked into confessing their love for each other; Claudio (Raul Arambula) is also tricked into believing Hero (Morgan Mulford) is no maiden (he rejects her, therefore, at the altar). The latter is set right (somewhat inadvertently), and the former blossoms, so marriages are agreed upon...Oh what a fun time it was back in the 17th Century!
Taken literally, the title implies that a great fuss ("much ado") is made of something which is insignificant ("nothing"), such as the unfounded claims both of Hero's infidelity, and that Benedick and Beatrice are in love with each other. Nothing is also a double entendre: "an O-thing" (or "n othing" or "no thing") was Elizabethan slang for a part of a woman's anatomy men usually make a lot of "ado" about. The title could also be understood as Much Ado About Noting: much of the action centers around interest in written messages, spying, and eavesdropping - You know, pretty "Much" the usual Shakespearean glue that keeps relationships together in his plays.
This play is a lively affair, as far as marriages go, as the actors run to and fro. "Shakespeare in the Park...ing Lot" is the production company, and the ensemble is impressive as they have to project the customary Shakespearean lines across the Zephyr Theater's parking lot where the audience sits in neat squares of 6' social distancing. Add to that the "sound stage" background audio of the old Stillwater railroad station with the iconic roar of motorcycles typical of Stillwater's Main Street Summer parade, a bike path with rollings "extras," and the lack of any theater acoustics, and it becomes a very realistic setting - One can easily imagine the characters doing their thing on the streets of Messina Sicily where the marital shenanigans unfold.
The St Croix Shakespeare Company does a super job of exploiting the "new normal" for theaters by poking fun at the very outset by playing off the necessary "6 foot" social distancing on the stage. But, even with that, you can enjoy really good relationships unfold that can make for a fun evening... at a distance of course.