Shakespeare’s comedy, Much Ado About Nothing is being brought to life on a stage nestled in the vineyard of Spearhead Winery in East Kelowna, B.C.
“It’s one of the more approachable plays, there’s really nothing very dark about it,” said director Stephen Jefferys.
“There is something that goes a little wrong but it’s resolved but it’s a great easy to absorb play, and it’s also got some hilarious bits of comedy.”
This is the latest production from the Shakespeare Kelowna Theatre Society that has been bringing Shakespeare to audiences at the winery for six years now, where the actors make the Elizabethan texts more understandable for the audience.
“A lot of people have said to me, ‘Oh, it’s Shakespeare, it’s going to be drudgery and hard to understand,’ [but] what we find is that we rehearse quite a while, 10 weeks, and so the actors really understand what they are saying and because they understand it, that means the audience understands it,” said Jefferys.
The comedy follows two couples, Claudio and Hero, and then there’s Beatrice and Benedick who are a couple who don’t love each other at first and then eventually find themselves falling in love.
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“Well, Beatrice is a very feisty, independent, strong woman — she doesn’t need a man — then there’s Benedick, her sort of nemesis, they are always sort of butting heads,” said Anita Reimer who plays Beatrice.
“They had a former, past relationship and it’s kind of one of those things where you find out somebody loves you and you all of a sudden love them back.”
It’s not rare for actors to return to the Shakespeare Kelowna Theatre Society’s productions in the vineyards year after year. Andrew Gibbs, who plays the role of Benedick, has been performing with the society for almost three decades.
“It’s great fun, I love words. Shakespeare in language is great if you are an English language lover. That’s a big part of it so I love it for that,” said Gibbs.
Shakespeare Kelowna Theatre Society will bring Much Ado About Nothing to the stage at Spearhead Winery in Kelowna until July 27. Tickets are available at www.shakespearekelowna.org
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