Mechanicals produce comedic 'Ado'

Shakespeare's theatrical repertoire is practically timeless, boasting a wide range of human emotions and experiences that we can still identify with in the late 20th Century. It is surprising to discover, therefore, that his classic comedy, "Much Ado About Nothing," is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year. Coincidentally, the Rude Mechanicals have selected Shakespeare's comedic work for their fall production in what LSA and Music junior Heidi Powers, the show's director, calls "a happy accident."

"I proposed this project my freshman year," in 1997, without knowing about the show's approaching anniversary, Powers said. "I found out there was a window, though; I believe it was performed from June to November of 1599 at the Rose Theatre in London."

Yet Powers said the Rude Mechanicals' show, the group's first Shakespearian comedy since its inception in 1996, will not strictly adhere to Shakespeare's original setting or character descriptions. She has taken instead dramatic license to modernize the comedy, placing it in late 20th-Century Pensacola, Florida rather than in late 16th-Century Messina, Italy.

Powers also chose to alter Shakespeare's character descriptions slightly. In the original show, many of the principal male characters are members of a royal family. Now, however, the men are officers in the American navy and are just returning from a recent war as the show begins.

"At the beginning, they're coming back from Kosovo," Powers explained. "They come back to Pensacola," which is a naval base, "to the Messina Inn instead of Messina, Italy."

LSA senior Allyson Bakaitis, one of the three producers for the show, said that while the group has significantly modernized the show's setting, the contemporary beach location does not detract from the beauty of the work.

"There are so many water references throughout the work, anyway," Bakaitis said, adding that the company's setting choices are actually supported by a line found in the play's introduction - "One foot in sea and one on shore, to one thing constant never."

Wandering about the beach will be acoustic guitarist LSA and Music first-year student Kristy Hanson, another addition the Rude Mechanicals have made to the original comedy. According to Powers, Hanson, whose style can be compared to that of Sarah MacLachlan or the Indigo Girls, has written original music and interludes that she will perform throughout the show. In addition, Powers said that there will be salsa music and dancing to give the production an Hispanic flair appropriate to the Floridian surroundings.

Surprisingly enough, with all the changes the group's members have made, they have not added any text to the comedy, conveying the modern setting and characters to the audience through deletions only. Yet LSA first-year student Russ Hedberg, who plays Claudio, a young, high-ranking officer in the show, said since Shakespeare made few allusions to the setting in his original text, this feat seems more difficult than it really is.

"Shakespeare wrote his roles to look and act a certain way but he didn't include a lot of stage direction," Hedberg explained. "He would have only written 'enter' or 'exit,' so this leaves a lot of room for actors to take liberty."

Powers, though, believes that the liberties she and the other group members have taken with the play will only help the audience's comprehension of the show.

"The joy of Shakespeare is that you can do with it what you will," Powers said. "By bringing the play closer to our time period, we bring a new light to the text and to our audience."

11-03-99