Shakespeare Kelowna presents William Shakespeare’s Romantic Comedy
Much Ado About Nothing
Location: Okanagan Villa Estate Winery, 3240 Pooley Road
Dates: July 16-20 and July 23-27
Time: 7 p.m.
Tickets $25 per ticket
www.selectyourtickets.com or call Prospera Plae Box Office a 250-762-5050
Much Ado About Nothing: Director’s Notes
This will be Shakespeare Kelowna’s third outdoor summer Shakespeare play at the spectacular Vibrant Vine Winery Stage in the heart of East Kelowna’s wine country.
I think Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s best comedies: It is hilarious but it also has themes of honor, shame, politics and a lovely well-rounded story line. I like the way it bounces from zany romantic comedy to drama in a matter of seconds.
The plot revolves around two intertwined love stories: one caustically funny, between Beatrice and Benedick, and, the other, between Claudio and Hero, poignantly sweet. These loves play out with an explosion of witty banter as victorious soldiers returning from war set their sights on the peacetime pleasures of merrymaking and romance. The villain Don John spends the play trying to drive apart Claudio and Hero, while most of the other characters spend the play trying to bring together Beatrice and Benedick, two witty, bright individuals who swear they will never fall in love and trade insults in their “merry war” of mutual disdain.
Shakespeare makes you laugh, but also breaks your heart – and then magically puts it back together again as if it were all “much ado about nothing.”
So, enjoy with me, a glass of wine, a summer’s evening and a colourful theatre spectacle on the open air stage.
Stephen Jefferys
