A Mediterranean Inspired Comedy
“As merry as the day is long.” Two of Shakespeare’s most tumultuous couples—sparring singles Beatrice and Benedick, and young lovers Claudio and Hero—discover all is not as it seems in an idyllic town recovering from war. Will the truth win in this mischievous game of love? Secret love, courtship, and marriage intertwine with darker themes of warfare, deception, and mischief in Much Ado About Nothing. Romance, wit, and mistaken identities power this new staging of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy full of colourful characters, passionate poetry, and Shakespeare’s wittiest wordplay.
This performance will be followed by a Touch Tour.
Tickets
Bard offers VocalEye members a fantastic deal for described performances: one complimentary ticket plus 50% off an additional companion ticket. Please call 604-739-0559. Some restrictions apply.
VocalEye is hosting a Notable Social. More details to come. Please contact amy@vocaleye.ca to register.
Running time TBA
Directed by Johnna Wright with additional text by Erin Shields
Resources
The Story: As Merry as the Day is Long
In an idyllic Mediterranean town, a “skirmish of wit” is afoot.
Leonato, the Governor of Messina, receives word that his old friend Don Pedro will be arriving in town shortly, accompanied by two fellow soldiers, a young Florentine nobleman named Claudio and the debonair lord Benedick.
The three soldiers, along with Don Pedro’s half-brother Don John and Don John’s followers Conrad and Borachio, are welcomed to the estate by Leonato, his daughter Hero, and his niece, Beatrice. Hero immediately captures Claudio’s heart, while Beatrice and Benedick quickly fall back into the “merry war” of wit going on between them.
Afterwards, Claudio tells Benedick that he is in love with Hero. While Benedick shoots down the notion of love, Don Pedro, who is a bit more of a romantic, offers to help Claudio win Hero’s heart. Unbeknownst to them, Borachio is eavesdropping on this conversation. Armed with this new piece of information, the disgraced Don John works with Borachio and Conrad on a scheme to sabotage this intended marriage.
“Love May Transform Me”
That night, Leonato hosts a masquerade dance to welcome his friends to Messina. Pretending to be Claudio, a masked Don Pedro approaches Hero, and the two leave the party while the real Claudio watches on nervously. Don John and Borachio try to interfere, but Don Pedro successfully woos Hero in Claudio’s name, and a wedding is set for a week later.
To pass the time until the happy nuptials, Don Pedro proposes a plan to bring Beatrice and Benedick together, even though the two of them have both sworn off the idea of marriage (and each other). Don Pedro, Claudio, and Leonato conspire for Benedick to listen in on a conversation where Leonato tells them that Beatrice is in love with Benedick. Likewise, Hero enlists the help of her attendants, Margaret and Ursula, to make Beatrice think Benedick has feelings for her.
However, while Beatrice and Benedick are busy making sense of their newfound feelings for each other, a more sinister plot is underway. Don John is determined to ruin Hero and Claudio’s wedding, and he hatches a plan to deceive Claudio into thinking Hero is unfaithful. With so much chaos and deception, will the truth be revealed—and true love prevail—or will “slanderous tongues” tear these two couples apart?
Meanwhile, off the coast of Illyria, a young girl named Viola washes ashore after a shipwreck. Believing that her twin brother, Sebastian, has drowned in the wreck, Viola disguises herself as a young man named Cesario in order to find work as a singer for Orsino. Viola, dressed as Cesario, quickly becomes a favourite of Orsino’s, but she finds herself falling in love with the Duke, which makes it slightly complicated when Orsino sends Viola to woo Olivia on his behalf. However, when Viola arrives to deliver Orsino’s messages, Olivia isn’t interested in what Orsino has to say—instead, it is “Cesario” that catches her attention!
As a love triangle forms between Orsino, Olivia, and Viola/Cesario, there is even more mayhem on the horizon when the other members of Olivia’s household enter the scene. Olivia’s uncle, Sir Toby, encourages his equally unruly friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek to woo Olivia, much to the horror of Olivia’s personal assistant Maria. Despite their differences, the three of them, along with the stand-up comic Feste, come together against a common foe: Malvolia, Olivia’s uptight stage manager. As a joke, Maria fakes a declaration of love from Olivia to Malvolia, instructing Malvolia to dress and act a certain way if she returns Olivia’s love.
More confusion ensues when Sebastian, who has survived the shipwreck after all, arrives in Illyria with his friend Antonia. However, the two quickly go their separate ways, as Antonia is considered a criminal in Illyria. Meanwhile, Sir Andrew has challenged Viola to a duel after seeing Olivia’s feelings for “Cesario.” When Antonia sees this, she defends Viola, thinking that “Cesario” is Sebastian, and is seen by officers and arrested for her past crimes against Orsino.
Confusion reigns as Viola and Sebastian are mistaken for one another by multiple characters. Will misunderstandings prevail, or will all these “journeys end in lovers meeting”? Join us at the carnival and find out!
