On Sunday Popejoy Theater will host a performance of William Shakespeare’s acclaimed play “Much Ado About Nothing.” The play, a fresh take on Shakespeare’s work, is being put on by Aquila Theater who has put on classic productions for the past 25 years.
“This production is celebrating our 25th year,” said Desiree Sanchez, director, adapter and production designer for the show. “The company has been around for for that long touring America, and this year we’re touring ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ with Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Nile.’”
Sanchez’s adaptation of “Much Ado About Nothing” is the first time where the entire catalogue of characters will be portrayed by only three cast members, a production decision that Sanchez said is the first of its kind.
“The reason why I wanted to do it with three people was to really highlight the relationship between Beatrice and Benedict and find different and interesting ways to see aspects of their relationship, and figure out why they are the way they are,” Sanchez said. “By having three people, those three people have to play all of the different characters. It’s almost like they’re playing out different aspects of their personality, playing out their worst fears of relationships through these characters in telling the story.”
Sanchez said that a lot of the characters in the play only have one or two lines of dialogue, which made it easier to condense the content of the play and enable the cast to easier play multiple characters.
“Shakespeare always doubled, which Aquila has been known for, but not quite to this extent. That makes it quite dangerous, exciting and definitely different,” Sanchez said.
Palmyra Mattner, who primarily plays Beatrice in the play, said that being part of the stripped-down production of “Much Ado About Nothing” is a unique experience in terms of acting.
“Doing a non-traditional version of ‘Much Ado’ has been both challenging and liberating as an actor,” Mattner said. “I knew I was playing Beatrice, but only found the other parts I was playing through a lot of character exploration and devising in and out of the rehearsal room.”
Mattner said performing the production is an unorthodox experience in that costume changes happen in plain sight.
“The most unique thing for me as an actor in this version is the nakedness and unconventional device of swapping characters in front of the audience,” Matter said. “Literally putting on a costume piece or changing my body in full view of the audience — rather than prepping backstage — has been both intimidating and exciting.”
Mattner said that if the audience should know one thing about the play it’s that it's unconventional in many ways, beyond the unique practice of changing on-stage.
“There’s a lot of music, there’s a lot of fun,” Sanchez said. “People can expect a good laugh, and a great night out at the theater.”
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“Much Ado About Nothing” will be playing at Popejoy Theater on Sunday at 2 p.m. Ticket prices can be found here.
Fin Martinez is the culture editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @FinMartinez.
