Local Theatre Company Revives Shakespeare's Finest Comedy MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

DIY Theatre's refreshing take on this classic play confirms Shakespeare's prescience as he wrestles with themes of gender politics, double standards around female sexuality and the impacts of toxic masculinity. Topics that 400 years later are still dominating conversations and headlines.

Equal parts hilarious and thought-provoking, Much Ado About Nothing is Shakespeare's finest comedy involving an offbeat examination of the battle of the sexes. DIY's production provides audiences with an absorbing romp through a host of debatable topics but at its very heart, the play explores the pleasures of intellectual warfare as forms of flirtation and foreplay and how self-respect must form the basis of any solid union.

Enter Hero. An elegant lady and daughter of Leonato. She is set to marry the dashing Claudio until dastardly Don John fools both men into believing that Hero has been unfaithful. Claudio then rejects her and Leonato wishes her dead. Enter Benedick. A war hero with a wit as sharp as his sword. Across the church stands his most hated rival. Not a soldier of battle but the Lady Beatrice whose tongue is sharper than any steel. And she wants his blood for scorning her love the last time they met. The Italian court, and our audience, will watch in delight as Beatrice and Benedick sting and slice each other with their words, never guessing who will win.

Shakespeare continues to ask vital questions in this piece regarding gender, marriage and deception and perhaps the most important question of all is whether our female protagonists Beatrice and Hero can become or remain equal players in their own romantic destiny.

Director Caleb Gordon says the following things about Much Ado About Nothing: "We all know a Benedick and Beatrice - two people who love to hate each other. Of course, in this play, they start to suffer from a terrible disease: True love."

"I'm particularly interested in the humanity of these characters, and Shelby Reinitz and Joel David Taylor are great leads for a comedy like this. Their characters are smart, but they still can't outwit the tendrils of love."

"When I worked with Michael Rolfe in the Tempest, I knew I wanted to see him in another Shakespeare play immediately. And when Kaleigh Richards mentioned that she'd worked with him previously in The Cows, I knew I'd found the two best clowns Calgary had to offer."

Working in the intimate setting of Motel Theatre, Much Ado About Nothing promises to highlight the strengths of its large, entirely Calgary-based eleven-member cast which includes Joel David Taylor and Shelby Reintz in the iconic roles of Benedick and Beatrice while Spencer Streichert and Anastasia St. Amand don the characters of Claudio and Hero.

Show times are 7:30pm Tuesday to Saturday with matinees at 2:30pm on Saturday & Sunday. Tickets are $25.00 and are available at: https://www.diytheatre.org/much-ado-about-nothing

 

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