MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Comes to the Contemporary Theater Company This Month

A lot of mirth is coming to the stage at The Contemporary Theater Company with one of William Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, Much Ado About Nothing, running October 20 – November 18.

 

“One of the most interesting things about Much Ado About Nothing is the way it looks at love and romance,” says Tammy Brown, who plays Beatrice. “The excitement, the jealousy, the confusion, the joy of romance - it's all there in such a fun and relatable package.”

 

Much Ado About Nothing follows the witty wordplay and romantic intrigues of two couples: Beatrice and Benedick, and Hero and Claudio. Beatrice and Benedick are sworn enemies, but their friends and family conspire to bring them together. Hero and Claudio are deeply in love, but their relationship is threatened by a cruel deception.

 

“The driving force of the play is the relationship between Beatrice and Benedick. It's the prototypical rom-com romance,” says Brown. “It's funny, but it's also complicated, and ultimately redemptive. It speaks to the idea that so often we're our own worst enemies when it comes to matters of the heart. As an actor, that's why Beatrice is so fun to play - she's so smart and strong, but also so messy and conflicted when it comes to love… but aren't we all?”

 

This production is set during the Prohibition Era, which lends itself to fun costume pieces, and music.

 

The cast includes frequent CTC Shakespearean actors like Brown, who has previously played Hamlet and Lady Macbeth, Michael Alper (Polonius and King Duncan in Hamlet and Macbeth), Susie Chakmakian (Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Dogberry, and Winfield Swanson, who has been in nine Shakespeare productions at the CTC, as Don John. Recent cast members of the theater's summer Shakespeare on the Saugatucket production of The Merry Wives of Windsor are returning including Jeffrey Ouellette, who played Falstaff, as Verges, Omar Laguerre-Lewis as Claudio, and Aidan Costa as Borachio.

 

Meghan Wolff is no stranger to the CTC stage, but this is her first mainstage production at the theater as she lives in Minnesota. Fans of the Ocean State Improv Festival will recognize Wolff as one half of Juliet & Juliet, who will be performing their incredibly detailed, impressive, and hilarious improvised Shakespeare show on November 2.

 

“Having the opportunity to find so much fun and playfulness in such a sharp comedy and with such great performers has been an endless delight,” says Wolff, who plays Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing.

 

Max Rosmarin, who is playing Don Pedro, has performed in fifteen 24-Hour Play Festivals at the CTC since 2009. He makes the trek up from New York for the festival each year and is excited to be joining for a full mainstage production now.

 

“There is music scattered throughout the show by Patrick Weber and Brittany Thompson, one of our Wakefield Idol runner-ups,” says Cady. “The music really brings you into the 1920s setting for the show!”

 

The full cast also includes Sophia Kahn (Hero), Paul Kassabian (Sexton/Messenger), Kenney Knisely (Conrade), Jess LeClair (Ursula), Tina Moore (Antonio), Terry Simpson (Friar), and Jenson Tavares (Margaret).

 

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