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Calgary Herald
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Review: It's really something when a theatre troupe can pull off Much Ado About Nothing
Article content There is much to recommend in The Shakespeare Company and Full Circle Theatre's production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Article content It's one of Shakespeare's more problematic plays. It's a comedy, but at its heart, it's about a group of men discrediting an innocent young girl. It's Shakespeare's comic version of his tragedy Othello. Article content A group of soldiers returning from battle stops to rest at the home of the wealthy lord Leonato. The young soldier Claudio is instantly smitten with Leonato's daughter Hero, and she with him, a device straight out of Romeo & Juliet. Leonato's niece Beatrice is a hater of men, most specifically of the vain soldier Benedick, mirroring Katrina and Petruchio from Taming of the Shrew. Beatrice and Benedick's friends conspire to trick them into becoming lovers, but the other conspiracy is to convince Claudio that Hero is not chaste. Article content Article content Any production of Much Ado rises or falls on the chemistry between the actors who play Beatrice and Benedick. Shakespeare has written some of his finest banter for these characters, and Megan Baldrey and CJ Gordon attack it with relish. Article content Baldrey's Beatrice is so voluptuous it's a wonder she isn't fending off suitors, but she does have a viper's tongue, which she turns on Benedick the moment he arrives at the villa. She teases him mercilessly, occasionally winking at the audience to let us know the disdain she holds for him. Article content It's up to Hero, and her lady-in-waiting, Margaret, to drop hints that Benedick is really in love with Beatrice but sworn to pretend otherwise. Baldrey's initial disbelief is hilarious, as is her gradual realization that she does like him. Article content Article content Claudio, the army commander and Leonato are the ones who have to convince Benedick that Beatrice is in love with him. They know that this will feed Benedick's ego. The fun is watching Gordon processing this revelation, and questioning his old philosophy that he is a bachelor for life. Article content Article content Director John Knight turns the scenes in which Beatrice and Benedick overhear the conversations of the conspirators into pure slapstick. He has Baldrey and Gordon crawling about on the floor and hiding behind the small set pieces on the stage. It's the antithesis of the witty verbal matches Baldrey and Gordon had earlier on, but both actors are up to these demands as well. Article content Joel David Taylor runs a gamut of emotions for Claudio. First, he is smitten with Hero, all eager-eyed and puppy-like. When he thinks that Don Pedro is wooing Hero, Taylor becomes petulant and sullen, but turns into the proud peacock when Hero announces she will gladly marry him. Taylor is most convincing when he turns his anger on Hero at their planned wedding, accusing her of being wanton. His anger is palpable. Article content It's always a challenge for modern actors to play Shakespeare's innocents. Hero is probably 15 years old. Caitlyn O'Connor's reaction to being maligned is not that of a child but a woman, and that's not Hero. Her admonishment of Claudio when he discovers the truth is better.
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Barbie-inspired Shakespeare wins awards for actor, school
Glenn Ericsson may not be plastic, but he is certainly fantastic playing a beat-up, toddler-maimed Shakespearean Barbie. The 17-year-old John McGlashan College student recently won the outstanding individual comic role award at the Shakespeare Global Centre New Zealand National Festival, in Wellington, for playing Katherina Minola in McGlashan's production of The Taming of the Shrew. The school also won the outstanding presentation from a comedy award. "We did Taming of the Shrew ... but we did it in more of a Barbie style," he said. "Two of us were like Barbies — the rest were Kens. "We didn't really change anything from the actual Shakespearean script itself, but our costumes and our set was very heavily inspired by the Barbie movie. "The way we moved was more like Barbie dolls — it was all very stiff." He said the movements added to the humour of the play. While he was delighted with the awards, he said playing a Barbie doll had its cons — particularly the amount of glitter and makeup he had to wear. It took ages to get off again, and in the case of glitter, some of it stayed stuck to him for days. John McGlashan College students (from left) Glenn Ericsson, Tim Stevens and Harper Milne perform a scene from their Barbie-inspired adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. Glenn recently won the outstanding individual comic role award at the Shakespeare Global Centre New Zealand National Festival in Wellington. Photo: Peter McIntosh "It goes everywhere," he said. "The rest of the boys seem rather amused by it, to be honest." Glenn said he had been acting in theatre productions since primary school, but had been taking it far more seriously in recent years. The thing that attracted him to acting was being able to socialise with people he might not normally talk to. It was also an opportunity to step out of his comfort zone and be somebody different. "It's a form of escapism. It takes your mind off the troubles of your day, just by doing something completely different." He is considering pursuing acting as a career in Wellington, but it was still early days, he said. Glenn is now hoping to get a date — with destiny. He hoped his role as Katherina/Barbie would earn him one of 46 places in the National Shakespeare Schools Production later this year. Of those students, 24 would be chosen to travel to the Globe, in London, and to attend a two-week course in Stratford-upon-Avon. "Fingers crossed, I get selected."
