>>PREVIEW
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
The Shakespeare Company
Runs until July 29
Pumphouse Park
As Calgary’s Shakespeare Company marks its 10-year anniversary, artistic director Iam Coulter is looking up.
"The future looks brighter than ever," she says, noting her excitement both at the company’s upcoming season and at its current production, Much Ado About Nothing.
One of the Bard’s most commonly produced works, Much Ado is a romantic comedy revolving around two couples, Claudio and Hero, as well as Beatrice and Benedick. While Claudio attempts to woo Hero, his enemies try to foil his plans, and the characters become caught up in various court intrigues, including eavesdropping and a duel. Beatrice and Benedick, meanwhile, trade clever insults throughout the play while their friends plan to get them married.
"It’s a very sexy play," says Coulter, adding that she was initially attracted to its battle of wits and its battle of the sexes. "It’s a play we could easily cast from our ensemble (of actors)."
It makes a good summer play she says, adding that the company has many great comedians who bring their own flavour to the production. Coulter herself plays Beatrice, arguably one of Shakespeare’s strongest female leads, who vows never to marry and spends much of the play insulting her love interest. According to Coulter, this production will bring out more of the play’s humour. While it has elements of drama, she felt that the comedy was something actors could work well with.
"Some productions miss the humour and become too melancholy," she says. "We’ve found a lot of comedy in the play." To help bring out the play’s comic side, Coulter hired Barry Yzereef to direct. "I’ve worked with him before. He brings a lot of experience to the production, as well as enormous energy. He’s the kind of director who doesn’t sit down."
Initially set in medieval Italy, Yzereef moved the play up to the 18th Century. For this production, the company will be using an ensemble of ten actors, seven of whom are returning from last year, while three are new to the company.
"It’s been great to work with new people and have their energies come into the group." In particular, she cites Jeremiah Yurk, who plays Benedick. Impressed with his acting and "phenomenal voice" in a recent production, she encouraged him to audition for The Shakespeare Company.
The production will tour to Canmore and the Okanagan after its run in Calgary, keeping alive the Shakespeare in the Mountains festival started three years ago by The Shakespeare Company. Says Coulter, this was where she got her start with the company, and she describes performing in Shakespeare in the Mountains as "a magical experience."
Now 10 years old, The Shakespeare Company is in good shape says Coulter, and she is looking to the future. In addition to its open-air summer performances, the company has returned to staging winter productions as well. The company is working to build up its audience after a production of Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet, which played to full houses last December, and hopes for a large turnout during its weeklong run in the mountains.
According to Coulter, it is easy for Shakespeare to be relevant to contemporary audiences, citing its timeless themes of love and betrayal.
"It’s a roller-coaster ride between the dramatic and the comedic." |
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