Video Promo by Nancy Eyermann: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Austin Shakespeare, Rollins Theatre, November

Video by Nancy Eyermann

Austin Shakespeare kicks off the holiday festivities with Shakespeare’s popular romantic comedy Much Ado about Nothing, running in the intimate Rollins Studio Theatre at The Long Center from November 15 - December 3. Set in the lush “Belle Époque” at the turn of the 20th Century, the witty and battling couple Beatrice and Benedick first trade barbs and then kisses. Music will fill the air in sunny Italy with surprising songs performed in trios and duets, featuring mezzo-soprano vocalist Shelley Auer. Shakespeare aficionados and newcomers will find much to love in Austin Shakespeare’s accessible and visually delightful version of this classic play.

 Two of Austin Shakespeare’s favorite professional actors, Marc Pouhé and Gwendolyn Kelso, will play Benedick and Beatrice. The pair was last seen feuding as Kate and Petruchio in the company’s Free Shakespeare in the Park production of The Taming of the Shrew. Director Ann Ciccolella expressed her enthusiasm, saying, “Exuberance is the key to a joyful battle of the sexes, especially between Beatrice and Benedick, two of Shakespeare’s most clever characters.”

 The younger lovers, Hero and Claudio, will be played by Corinna Browning (Present Laughter) and Joseph Banks (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Other Austin Shakespeare actors include Toby Minor as the comic clown Dogberry and Derek Webster, who charmed audiences in The Crucible. New to Austin Shakespeare are Colum Morgan (Don Pedro), Samson Pleasant (Don John), Max Green (Conrade), Susan Myburgh (Verges), Julie Matthews (Ursula), Alaithia Velez (Balthazar), and Patrick David Wheeler (Borachio).

 

CREATIVE TEAM:

Artistic Director: Ann Ciccolella

Costume Designer: Benjamin Taylor Ridgway

Set and Light Designer: Patrick Anthony

Sound Designer: Bill Meadows

Music Composer: Gregory Bolin

Voice & Movement Consultant: Jim Hancock

Mask Designer: Jennifer Rose Davis

 

Founded in 1984 and the only professional classical theater company in Central Texas, Austin Shakespeare presents professional theater of the highest quality with an emphasis on the plays of William Shakespeare, bringing to the public performances that are fresh, bold, imaginative, thought-provoking, and eminently accessible, connecting the truths of the past with the challenges and possibilities of today. In the fall and spring, Austin Shakespeare also produces plays by Shaw, Schiller, and Stoppard at The Long Center for the Performing Arts Rollins Studio Theatre. Austin Shakespeare’s ongoing “Shakespeare Aloud” reading group and “Artist’s Way” sessions invite new participants weekly. Austin Shakespeare’s education program 20/20 sends professional actors into the schools to encourage love of language. 

---

Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Austin Shakespeare