It’s been much ado about rehearsals with the Community Shakespeare Company (CSC) of Lopez.
CSC is presenting its Fall Festival of plays, featuring a range of young and older actors performing “Much Ado About Nothing” and “King Lear.”
The festival runs from Nov. 19-22 at Lopez Center. “Much Ado” can be seen at 4:30 p.m. daily; “King Lear” is at 7:30 p.m. daily. A special preview performance will be on Wednesday, Nov. 19; admission is by donation. Reduced priced tickets for $9 are offered for the Nov. 20 show; tickets for Friday and Saturday are $15.
During the evenings of Nov. 20 to 22, the Galley, Love Dog Cafe, and the Bay Cafe are creating menus with authentic and delicious Elizabethan foods such as Shepherd’s Pie, braised lamb shanks, Fartes of Portingale, Toad in the Hole, Finer Jumbals, and Yorkshire Pudding. Diners can either eat in between or after the showings. Reservations are required at each restaurant.
The cast of “Much Ado About Nothing” consists of students in grades one through seven. Actors in “King Lear” are in grades eight through adult. CSC co-founder and director Richard Carter adapts the Shakespeare plays he assigns to younger students and abridges the plays for older kids. His adaptations are now being used by educators across the U.S. and in Canada, Japan, South Africa and Jamaica.
“‘Much Ado’ I chose because it’s a comedy that I hadn’t yet adapted and I felt like we had a really good cast for it. And it’s very funny. It’s a crowd pleaser,” he said. “I read a lot of Shakespeare last winter and for the older actors, I wanted something to follow up ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (which CSC performed last fall). This particular group needed a new challenge. I go with my gut, and this play spoke to me for this group. And I was very fortunate that just enough adults came out that I could fill the key roles for older people in the play. The dynamic of using real high schoolers with real adults, like we did in ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ is applicable to ‘King Lear’ as well. That makes our production very exciting right now.”
Carter co-founded CSC in 1999 with Susan Wilson. The two have been putting on student Shakespeare festivals ever since, and they’ve become a popular event for the Lopez community. This is the first year that Wilson will not be participating in the shows.
“Susan is focusing on other priorities in her life right now. I’m terribly lucky to have two assistants taking up where she left off: Maya Trace Borhani, who is stage manager for ‘King Lear,’ and Jaina Davis, stage manager for ‘Much Ado,’” said Carter. Borhani spent last spring working with the Seattle Shakespeare Company, and Davis helped with CSC several years ago, so both bring experience to the production. Tracey Cottingham is once again coordinating costumes, Celia Rosenberger is providing music, Brian Treece is handling lighting and special effects, and Greg Ewert is designing the set.
“Much Ado About Nothing” is a romantic comedy set in Messina, Sicily about two lovers, Claudio and Hero, who are set to be married in a week. To pass the time before their nuptials, they conspire with Don Pedro, the prince of Aragon, to trick their friends, Beatrice and Benedick, into confessing their love for each other. The prince’s brother Don John, however, is jealous of Don Pedro, so he conspires to sabotage the coming wedding.
The cast of “Much Ado,” except for the leads, is mostly new to the CSC festivals. “It’s a brave new world. It’s like starting the company all over again – in a good way,” commented Carter.
“King Lear” is considered one of Shakespeare’s finest tragedies. It is based on the legend of King Leir of Britain. In the play, King Lear’s misjudgment of his daughters results in his downfall. His two oldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, are villainous, and his youngest daughter, Cordelia, is virtuous and true.
“Lear” features some familiar student faces and the adults rounding out the cast were last seen in Carol Steckler’s recent theatrical productions. Steve Young, a retired dramatic literature professor, is playing King Lear. Rosie Sumner, Mary Wondra, and Josh Eide are the other adult leads.
“What I love about this process is that the kids get to work with these veteran performers and the adults gets to work with these very experienced young people,” said Carter.
Tickets are available at www.lopezcenter.com and Islehaven Books. Seating is limited so advanced sales are advised. For more information about CSC, visit www.communityshakespeare.org.
