“MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING”
A Comedy by
William Shakespeare

• Directed by: Barbara Ridenour
• When: 7 p.m. Thursday, April 3
  7:30 p.m. Friday, April 4
  7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5
• Where: North Attic Playhouse

ANY HIGH SCHOOL student will tell you that reading a Shakespeare play can be difficult. But what about performing one?

Almost 40 Uni students have spent the last two months finding out firsthand what that’s like. They will perform one of Shakespeare’s great comedies, “Much Ado About Nothing,” as this year’s spring play.

Showtimes are 7 p.m. Thursday and 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the North Attic Playhouse. Tickets cost $5 for students, senior citizens, and faculty, and $6 for other adults.

“It seems to be a Shakespeare season,” says Barbara Ridenour, who directs the play. “Tom Mitchell, theatre professor at the U of I, told me last summer that Krannert, Parkland, the Station Theatre, and other community theater groups were doing Shakespeare or Shakespeare-related plays.” (For a listing of area Shakespeare events this spring, click here.)

So Ridenour thought it would be fitting to do a Shakespeare play that hadn’t been performed during her time at Uni. The only Shakespeare productions Ridenour has directed at Uni have been “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “As You Like It.”

For the past two months, the actors have focused on learning their difficult lines. Senior Grant Loos, who has the part of Benedick, a young lord of Padua, has developed a method that he recommends.

“Read over it,” he says. “Make sure you know the gist of what it’s all about, and then find a friend that you can force to go over lines with you.”

Sophomore Zack Goldberg, who plays Balthasar, an attendant on Don Pedro (senior Carl Zielinski), has a more basic approach.

“I go over my lines, like, 15 times,” he says.

The play takes place on the beautiful estate of Leonato, the governor of Messina. Originally, senior Ethan Berl was cast as Benedick. But due to a scheduling conflict, Berl had to leave the play; Loos replaced him as Benedick, and senior Michelle Gao took Loos' part of Leonato, becoming “Leonata.”

With the return of Leonata's soldiers from battle, the women of the estate are all in a tizzy, particularly Hero (Jamie Weiser), Leonata’s daughter.

Hero has caught the eye of a young lord named Claudio (senior Julian Hartman), the right hand man of Don Pedro (Zielinski), prince of Aragon.

Hero’s cousin, Beatrice (Hannah Lake-Rayburn), is anxious for the soldiers’ return so she can continue her ongoing love/hate relationship with another young lord, Benedick (Loos).

However, things go awry when Don Pedro’s brother, Don John (Daniel McNamara), decides to wreak havoc on the young lovers' lives. A series of serious misunderstandings, lots of really archaic references, some enthusiastic dancing, and a ton of totally inappropriate jokes lead up to another classic Shakespearean closing.

With tech week upon us, many cast members are stressed out, but just as many are optimistic.

“Shakespeare is fairly difficult,” says Zielinski. “But we have a lot of really excellent actors and actresses, so I know we can do it effectively.”

Goldberg agrees: “I think it will be interesting, and it will end up well. It always ends up well.”

“It seems chaotic at times,” Ridenour says of the final stretch of rehearsals. “But I have faith that everyone will know his or her lines/parts/dance steps, and that it will turn out beautifully. Tech week can be very tense, but if everyone pays attention to what needs to be done and spends time during rehearsal contributing to that, the product will be well worth it.”

Directing Shakespeare this time around recently took a more personal turn for Ridenour.

“A few weeks ago, my Shakespeare professor from Knox College died,” she explains. “He was a passionate representative of William Shakespeare’s words. He recited lines with a grand flair and a sweet love of the language.”

Quoting “Hamlet,” Ridenour said of her professor: “Bill Brady was ‘A fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy,’ and ‘I shall not look upon his like again.’ I think of Bill Brady now when I hear young voices keeping Shakespeare alive. For me, it’s a fitting remembrance.”

CAST & CREW: “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING”

• Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon: Carl Zielinski
• Don John, his bastard brother: Daniel McNamara
• Claudio, a young lord of Florence: Julian Hartman
• Benedick, a young lord of Padua: Grant Loos
• Leonata, governor of Messina: Michelle Gao
• Antonio, her brother: Rob Diehl
• Balthasar, attendant on Don Pedro: Zack Goldberg
• Conrade, follower of Don John: Dillon Price
• Borachio, follower of Don John: James Smith
• Friar Frances: Tianna Pittenger
• Dogberry, a constable: Deren Kudeki
• Verges, a headborough: Daniel Wilson
• Sexton: Anna Gooler
• Hero, daughter to Leonata: Jamie Weiser
• Beatrice, niece to Leonata: Hannah Lake-Rayburn
• Margaret, gentlewoman attending on Hero: Anna Cangellaris
• Ursula, gentlewoman attending on Hero: Sarah Lake-Rayburn
• Messenger: Jeremy Kemball
• Watch: Hannah Leskosky, Lauren Piester, Brittany Scheid
• Ensemble (watch, attendants, musicians, singers, etc.): Will Erickson, Katherine Floess, Maria Gao, Maia Gersten, Hadley Hauser, Rodney LeNoir, Marie Lilly, Diana Liu, Sierra Marcum, Aramael Pena-Alcantara, Elizabeth Russell, Serena Schatz, Ethan Schiller, Lisa Sproat, Richard Wang
• Musicians: Claire Johnson, Alan Liang (violin); Katherine Floess, Serena Schatz (recorder); Teddy Zamora-Mills (guitar); Zack Goldberg (voice)
• Costume design: Mary Stasheff
• Lighting: Natsuki Nakamura
• Set design: Aliisa Rantanen, Lor Sligar
• Stage managers: Lor Sligar, Tianna Pittenger
• Set crew: Entire cast and Stefanie Senior, Lor Sligar, Aliisa Rantanen
• Stage crew: Stefanie Senior, Stephanie Overmier, Karen Han, Lor Sligar
• Choreography: Jonathan Sivier, Anna Cangellaris, Zack Goldberg